UC-N 


LOCKE  AMSDEN, 


OR 


THE    SCHOOLMASTEK: 


A    TALE. 


BY   THE   AUTHOR    OF   "MAT   MARTIN," 
"THE  GREEN  MOUNTAIN  BOYS,"  &c. 


"  In  every  scene  some  moral  let  us  teach ; 
And,  if  we  can,  at  once  both  please  and  preach." 

POPE'S  EPISTLES. 


BOSTON: 
BENJAMIN    B.    MUSSEY    AND    CO. 

NO.    29    COKNHILL. 

1848. 


t 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847, 

Br  D.  P.  THOMPSON, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


STEREOTYPED   AND   FEINTED   BT   S.  IT.  DICKINSON.  BOSTON. 


TO  THE 

FRIENDS    OF    POPULAR    EDUCATION 
AND  SELF-INTELLECTUAL  CULTURE, 

IN   THE   UNITED   STATES, 

THE    FOLLOWING    PAGES, 

WRITTEN   LESS   WITH   THE   HOPE   OF   GAINING   LITERARY  FAME,  THAN 

OF  AWAKENING  AN   INTEREST,  AND  IMPARTING  USEFUL  HINTS 

ON  AN  IMPORTANT,  AND,  WITH   ALL  OUR  BOASTS,   A 

STILL   SADLY  NEGLECTED    SUBJECT, 

ARE    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED 

BY 

THE    AUTHOR. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER 


CHAPTER    I. 

"  To  me  more  dear,  congenial  to  my  heart, 
"  One  native  charm  than  all  the  gloss  of  art." 

GOLDSMITH. 

OUR  story,  contrary  perhaps  to  fashionable  precedent, 
opens  at  a  common  farm-house,  situated  on  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  roads  leading  through  the  interior  of  the  northerly 
portion  of  the  Union.  It  was  near  the  middle  of  the  day, 
in  that  part  of  the  spring  season  when  the  rough  and  chill 
features  of  winter  are  becoming  so  equally  blended  with  the 
soft  and  mild  ones  of  summer  upon  the  face  of  nature,  that 
we  feel  at  loss  in  deciding  whether  the  characteristics  of  the 
one  or  the  other  most  prevail.  The  hills  were  mostly  bare, 
but  their  appearance  was  not  that  of  summer ;  and  the  tempted 
eye  turned  away  unsatisfied  from  the  cheerless  prospect  which 
their  dreary  and  frost-blackened  sides  presented.  The  levels, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  still  covered  with  snow ;  and  yet  their 
aspect  was  not  that  of  winter.  Clumps  of  willows,  scattered 
along  the  hedges,  or  around  the  waste-places  of  the  meadows, 
were  white  with  the  starting  buds  or  blossoms  of  spring. 
The  old  white  mantle  of  the  frost-king  was  also  becoming 
sadly  dingy  and  tattered.  Each  stump  and  stone  was  en 
closed  by  a  widening  circle  of  bare  ground ;  while  the  tops 
of  the  furrows,  peering  through  the  dissolving  snows,  were 
1* 


6  LOCKE   AMSDEN,    Oft 

beginning  to  streak,  with  long,  faint,  dotted  lines,  the  self- 
disclosing  plough-aeldL.  Ths  cattle  were  lazily  ruminating 
in  the  barn-yard,  occasionally  lowing  and  casting  a  wistful 
glance  at  the  bare  hills  around,  but  without  offering  to  move 
towards  them,  as  if  they  thought  that  the  prospects  there 
were  hardly  sufficient  to  induce  them  yet  to  leave  their 
winter  quarters.  The  earth-loving  sheep,  however,  had 
broken  from  their  fold,  and,  having  reached  the  borders  of 
the  hills  by  some  partially  trod  path,  were  busily  nibbling  at 
the  roots  of  the  shriveled  herbage,  unheedful  of  the  bleating 
cries  of  their  feebler  companions,  that  they  had  left  stuck  in 
the  treacherous  snow-drifts,  encountered  in  their  migrations 
from  one  bare  patch  to  another. 

The  owner  of  the  farming  establishment,  in  reference  to 
which  we  have  been  speaking,  was  in  the  door-yard,  engaged 
in  splitting  and  piling  up  his  yearly  stock  of  fire-wood.  He 
was  a  man  of  about  forty,  not  of  a  very  intellectual  counte 
nance,  indeed,  but  of  a  stout,  hardy,  and  well-made  frame, 
which  showed  to  advantage  in  the  handsome  and  appropriate 
long,  striped,  woollen  frock,  in  which  he  was  plying  himself 
with  the  moderate  and  easy  motions  which  are,  perhaps, 
peculiar  to  men  of  great  physical  power.  A  rugged  and 
resolute-looking  boy,  of  perhaps  a  dozen  years  of  age,  having 
thrown  himself  upon  one  knee  before  a  small  pile  of  prepared 
wood,  lying  near  the  kitchen  door  for  immediate  use,  and 
having  heaped  the  clefts  into  one  arm  till  they  reached  to 
his  chin,  as  if  in  whim  to  see  how  much  he  could  carry  in, 
was  now  engaged  in  trying,  with  a  capricious,  bravado-like 
air,  to  balance  an  additional  stick  on  his  head,  by  way  of 
increasing  his  already  enormous  load. 

In  another  part  of  the  yard,  and  as  near  his  master  as  he 
could  remain  undisturbed,  lay  the  well-fed  house-dog,  reclining 
upon  his  belly,  with  his  muzzle,  which  was  pointed  in  a 
direction  most  favorable  for  a  look-out,  resting  on  a  clean, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  7 

broad  chip,  with  ears  attent,  and  eyes  keenly  following  the 
slow,  creeping  motions  of  a  small  carriage,  that  was  now 
seen  in  the  distance  winding  along  the  road  from  the  south , 
of  whose  approach  he,  from  time  to  time,  as  he  considered 
himself  in  duty  bound,  gave  notice  by  a  low  growl,  which,  as 
the  vehicle  at  length  emerged  from  some  partially  screening 
bushes  into  plain  and  near  view,  was  raised  to  a  lazy  wow  ! 
The  carriage  in  question  proved  to  be  a  light,  open  wagon, 
drawn  by  one  horse,  and  containing  a  middle-aged  man,  of  a 
fine,  gentlemanly  appearance,  and  by  his  side  a  small  female 
figure,  closely  muffled  in  hood  and  cloak.  Carefully  guiding 
his  horse,  and  turning  him  from  one  side  to  the  other  of  the 
still  icy  road,  to  avoid  the  most  sidling  and  dangerous-looking 
places,  the  traveller  at  length  came  abreast  of  the  house ; 
when  the  animal  lost  his  footing,  and  after  two  or  three 
violent  but  fruitless  flounders  to  regain  it,  by  which  the  car 
riage  was  nearly  overset,  finally  landed  flat  on  his  side,  and 
lay  as  if  dead. 

"  My  stars  !  "  exclaimed  the  farmer,  pausing  with  uplifted 
axe  to  see  the  mishap,  "  if  that  was  'nt  a  narrow  escape  from 
capsizing,  it 's  no  matter  !  " 

A  second  thought  now  seeming  to  occur  to  him,  he  suddenly 
dropped  his  axe,  darted  forward  to  the  spot,  and,  seizing  the 
prostrate  horse  by  the  bits,  held  him  down. 

"  Clear  the  wagon,"  he  said,  hastily  motioning  with  his 
head  to  the  traveller,  "  the  horse  will  be  as  likely  to  overturn 
you  in  rising  as  he  was  in  falling.  Jump  down,  and  lift  out 
the  girl,  and  I  will  then  let  him  up." 

This  advice  was  instantly  complied  with  ;  when  the  horse, 
being  spurred  to  an  effort,  soon  safely  regained  his  feet. 

"  Your  beast  has  lost  a  shoe,  sir,"  said  the  farmer,  ap 
proaching  the  panting  animal,  and  lifting  a  suspected  foot ; 
"  yes,  here  is  the  foot,  as  bare  as  your  hand.  But  you  must 
have  another  put  on  before  you  drive  him  another  rod  in 


8  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

that  wagon  over  these  sidling  ice-patches,  unless  you  want 
your  neck  broke." 

"  I  have  no  very  particular  wishes  for  that,  certainly,"  said 
the  gentleman  with  a  smile  ;  "  but  where  can  I  find  a  smith 
within  any  reasonable  distance  ?  " 

"  There  's  one,  and  a  good  one  too,  about  a  mile  from  here, 
on  another  road  ;  but  I  think  the  horse  can  be  taken  across 
my  pasture  to  the  shop  much  nearer." 

"  Should  I  be  likely  to  meet  with  any  difficulty  about 
finding  the  way  ?  " 

"  Wn7>  yes,  you  might ;  and  I  '11  tell  you  what,  sir  —  you 
had  better  let  me  clap  my  boy  on  to  the  creature's  back, 
after  unharnessing,  and  he  will  take  him  over  and  get  him 
shod,  while  you  take  your  little  girl  into  the  house,  and 
remain  here.  Ben  !  "  continued  the  speaker,  shouting  for 
the  boy  who  had  gone  in  with  the  wood,  with  which  we  have 
noticed  him  as  loading  himself,  "  Ben !  Ben  Amsden !  show 
your  profile  out  here  in  the  yard,  if  you  will." 

The  boy  promptly  made  his  appearance. 

"  That  boy  ?  "  asked  the  stranger,  doubtingly.  «  My  horse 
has  considerable  spirit  —  can  he  manage  him  safely  ?  " 

"  He  will  think  so,  I  guess,"  replied  the  farmer,  laughingly. 
"  What  say  you,  Benjamin  ?  We  want  you  to  ride  this  horse 
over  to  neighbor  Dighton's  to  get  a  shoe  put  on;  and  the 
gentleman  appears  to  have  some  doubts  whether  you  can 
manage  him,  seeing  he  has  some  spirit  —  what  do  you  think 
about  it,  sir  ?  " 

"Why,  I  guess  I'll  agree  to  find  neck  as  long  as  the 
gentleman  will  find  horse,"  said  the  boy  smartly. 

"  Well,  then,  lead  him  with  the  wagon  into  the  yard ;  strip 
him  of  the  harness  ;  take  our  bridle,  and  ride  across  the 
pasture  to  the  shop ;  tell  Mr.  Dighton  to  put  on  a  new  shoe, 
and  charge  it  to  me,  as  we  have  deal ;  though  you  may  ask 
the  price,  that  the  gentleman  may  hand  it  to  me  if  he  wants 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  9 

to.  Come,  Mister,  now  you  and  your  little  girl  go  with  me 
into  the  house." 

"  I  will  assist  the  boy  to  unharness  first." 

"  O,  no,  it  will  be  nothing  but  fun  for  him.  Come,  come 
on.  It  is  strange,"  continued  the  man,  after  pausing  a  mo 
ment  to  see  the  wagon  got  safely  around  into  the  yard,  "  it  is 
strange  what  a  natural  difference  there  is  in  boys.  Now 
this  chap,  as  little  knurl  of  a  thing  as  he  appears,  will  mount 
and  manage  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  horse-flesh,  even  to 
the  breaking  of  colts  ;  while  my  other  boy,  now  tending  the 
sugar  place  over  in  the  woods  yonder,  though  nearly  four 
years  older  than  this,  don't  appear  to  have  the  least  notion 
about  a  horse,  or  any  thing  else,  scarcely,  in  the  way  of  active 
life,  so  long  as  he  can  get  a  book  to  read  and  think  about." 

Mr.  Amsden  —  for  such,  as  the  reader  may  have  already 
inferred,  was  the  farmer's  name — now  ushered  the  travellers 
into  the  house,  and  introduced  them,  as  such,  to  his  wife,  a 
dark-eyed  and  finely -featured  dame,  who  received  them  with 
simple  kindness,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  assist  the  little  girl 
in  unrobing  herself  of  the  thick  outward  garments  in  which 
she  was  encased  to  guard  against  the  damps  and  chills  of  the 
season. 

The  girl,  who  proved  to  be  the  gentleman's  daughter,  was 
apparently  just  entering  her  teens,  neatly  rounded,  and  rather 
slender  in  form,  and  in  feature  and  countenance  the  softened 
and  beautified  image  of  her  very  fine-looking,  though  now 
somewhat  pale  and  emaciated  father.  The  personal  appear 
ance  of  both  father  and  daughter,  indeed,  was  of  a  character 
to  awaken  at  once  the  attention  and  interest  of  the  beholder ; 
while  the  countenances  of  each  exhibited  so  finely  blended 
an  expression  of  benevolence  and  intelligence,  as  to  carry 
along  with  it  the  assurance  of  qualities  within,  which  should 
secure  the  interest  and  make  good  the  prepossessions  that 
outward  comeliness  had  created.  The  gentleman,  as  just 


10  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

intimated,  had  slightly  the  appearance  of  an  invalid.  Indeed, 
he  soon  stated,  in  the  way  of  accounting  for  being  on  a 
journey  at  such  an  unfavorable  time,  that,  being  about  to  take 
a  sea-voyage  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  he  had  broken  up 
housekeeping  at  his  late  residence,  in  a  village  some  fifty 
miles  south  of  the  place  to  which  he  had  now  arrived ;  and  it 
had  therefore  become  necessary  to  take  his  daughter,  who, 
with  himself,  now  composed  all  his  family,  to  reside,  in  his 
absence,  with  a  relative,  to  whose  residence  another  day's 
ride  would  easily  carry  them. 

A  few  moments,  with  the  gentleman's  easy  and  social  turn, 
was  sufficient  to  place  him  on  a  footing  of  familiarity  with 
the  family.  And  having  effected  this,  and  seen  his  daughter 
beginning  to  appear  cheerful  and  at  ease,  through  the  delicate 
and  motherly  attentions  shown  her  by  the  amiable  hostess, 
he  proposed  to  Mr.  Amsden  a  walk  to  the  barn  for  an  inspec 
tion  of  his  stock,  and  such  other  things  as  should  afford 
samples  of  his  management  and  skill  as  a  farmer. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Amsden,  evidently  gratified  at  the 
interest  which  one,  who  did  not  appear  to  be  of  his  calling, 
seemed  to  take  in  his  farming  affairs,  "  certainly,  sir,  we  will 
go.  And  you,  wife,"  he  continued,  turning  to  the  dame,  who 
was  already  giving  signs  of  culinary  preparation,  "  you  can 
look  round  a  little  while  we  are  gone,  and  see  what  can  be 
done  in  the  way  of  a  dinner.  These  folks,  as  well  as  ourselves, 
would  like  one  soon,  probably." 

"  By  being  allowed  to  pay  for  it,  we  should,"  replied  the 
gentleman. 

"  Time  enough  to  talk  about  that  when  you  get  it,"  rejoined 
Amsden  good-humoredly,  as  the  two  left  the  house  on  their 
way  to  the  barn. 

On  arriving  at  the  yard,  its  various  and  thrifty-looking 
tenants  were  successively  pointed  out  to  the  observing  stranger 
by  the  farmer,  who  proudly  descanted  on  the  virtues  of  his 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  11 

oxen,  the  qualities  of  his  cows,  the  breed  of  his  horses  and 
colts,  and  his  mode  of  tending  and  rearing  each,  and  the 
profits  he  respectively  derived  from  them.  After  this, 
Amsden  took  his  guest  to  a  little  elevation  near  the  barn, 
and  directed  his  attention  to  the  different  portions  of  his 
farm,  describing  the  uses  to  which  the  various  fields  in  view 
were  devoted,  and  dwelling  on  the  advantages  which,  as  a 
whole,  the  farm  possessed  over  those  that  surrounded  it. 

"  It  is  a  good  farm,  evidently,"  responded  the  stranger, 
"  and  as  evidently  well  conducted.  But  yonder  is  your  sugar- 
orchard,  I  think  you  said :  I  should  be  pleased  to  see  your 
manner  of  managing  that  also." 

"  Well,  I  have  as  good  a  sugar-place  as  any  body  else  in 
all  these  parts,"  replied  Amsden  ;  "  but  I  can't  say  much  for 
its  management,  as,  considering  sugar-making  no  great  object 
further  than  for  the  supply  of  my  family,  I  have,  late  years, 
left  it  almost  wholly  to  the  boys,  who  are  allowed  to  carry  it 
on  pretty  much  as  they  please.  However,  we  will  walk  out 
there,  and  see  what  is  going  on,  since  you  have  named  it." 

A  short  walk  brought  them  to  the  border  of  the  forest, 
where  a  body  of  three  or  four  hundred  straight,  tall,  and 
thrifty  rock-maple  trees,  standing  on  an  area  of  about  five 
acres,  composed  the  sugar-place.  The  tops  of  the  trees  were 
gently  swaying  to  a  moderate  west  wind ;  and  the  sap,  as 
usual  in  a  wind  from  that  quarter,  with  the  required  freeze 
of  the  preceding  night,  was  dropping  freely,  and  with  pulse- 
like  regularity,  from  the  spouts  at  the  incisions,  into  the 
cleanly  looking  tubs  placed  beneath  to  receive  the  pure  and 
flavorous  liquid.  Taking  a  path  leading  to  a  central  part  of 
the  sugar-lot,  Amsden  and  his  guest  soon  came  in  sight  of  the 
boiling-place,  as  indicated  by  the  cloud  of  mingled  smoke 
and  steam  which  rose  from  the  seething  kettles  and  the  hot 
fires  beneath  them.  The  farmer,  now  espying  some  tubs  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  path,  that  needed  adjusting  on  their 


12  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

sinking  foundations  of  snow,  stepped  aside,  bidding  the  other 
go  on  ;  and  the  latter  accordingly  proceeded,  with  a  leisurely 
step,  alone  towards  the  boiling-place.  On  arriving  within  a 
rod  or  two  of  the  spot,  he  paused,  and  looked  around  for  the 
one  in  superintendence ;  when  his  eye  soon  fell  on  the  person 
of  a  boy  of  about  sixteen,  lying  on  some  straw  at  the  mouth 
of  the  shantee,  which  opened  towards  the  row  of  boiling 
kettles  in  front.  The  lad  had  a  ciphering  slate,  and  a  large, 
old,  cover-worn  volume  spread  before  him  ;  and  upon  this 
he  was  so  absorbingly  engaged,  that  neither  the  sight  or 
sound  of  his  approaching  visitor  appeared  to  make  the  least 
impression  on  his  senses.  Hesitating  to  disturb  one  evidently 
so  little  expecting  it,  the  stranger  stood  a  momont,  now 
looking  around  for  the  absent  farmer,  and  now  glancing  with 
an  air  of  interest  and  surprised  curiosity  at  the  picturesque 
attitude,  shapely  limbs,  and  finely-turned  head  of  the  boy ; 
who,  with  bosom  thrown  open,  hat  cast  aside,  the  fingers  of 
one  hand  twisted  in  his  curly,  raven  hair,  and  those  of  the 
other  grasping  the  nimbly-plying  pencil,  was  thus  engaged  in 
an  employment  so  little  looked  for  by  the  other  on  a  common 
farm,  and  least  of  all  in  the  woods.  The  gentleman  Avas  not 
allowed,  however,  much  time  for  his  musing  upon  so  unusual 
a  spectacle  ;  for,  the  next  moment,  our  little  student  of  the 
woods  leaped  suddenly  upon  his  feet,  and,  with  the  exulting 
shout  of  Archimedes  of  old,  exclaimed  aloud,  "  I  have  done 
it !  I  have  done  it ! "  adding,  as  he  turned  back  and  shook 
his  fist  at  the  book,  "  now,  Old  Pike,  just  show  me  another 
sum  that  I  can't  do,  will  you  ?  you  are  conquered,  sir  !  " 

Having  thus  delivered  himself,  the  boy  turned  round,  when, 
his  eyes  for  the  first  time  falling  upon  the  stranger,  he 
instantly  dropped  his  head,  and  stood  covered  with  shame 
and  confusion. 

"  Locke  !  "  exclaimed  the  farmer,  emerging,  at  this  juncture, 
from  the  bushes  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fire,  and  going 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  13 

up  and  peering  into  the  steaming  kettles,  "  why,  Locke,  what 
have  you  been  about  ?  This  smallest  kettle  has  boiled  down 
into  sugar,  and  is  burning  up,  dirt,  settlings,  and  all  together  ! 
"Where  on  earth,"  he  petulantly  continued,  hastily  swinging 
off  the  kettle,  "  where  on  earth  can  have  been  the  boy's  eyes 
and  wits,  to  stand  by  and  let  ten  or  a  dozen  pounds  of  sugar 
spoil  for  want  of  putting  in  a  little  sap  !  What  is  the 
meaning  of  it  ?  What  is  the  case  ?  Zounds,  sir,  Avhy  don't 
you  speak  ?  " 

But  the  now  doubly  confused  object  of  this  tirade  of  the 
provoked  farmer,  was  unable  to  utter  one  word  in  extenuatior 
of  his  delinquency ;  and,  after  one  or  two  ineffectual  attempts 
to  speak,  sunk  down  on  a  log,  and  hid  his  burning  face  with 
his  hands.  At  once  appreciating  the  feelings  of  the  boy,  and 
touched  at  the  sensibilities  he  exhibited  under  the  mingled 
emotions  arising  from  wounded  delicacy  and  conscious  fault, 
the  stranger  immediately  interposed,  by  observing,  as  he 
pointed  to  the  slate  and  arithmetic  still  lying  where  the  owner 
had  used  them, 

"  Your  boy  is  a  mathematician,  I  perceive,  sir ;  and  yonder 
is  the  innocent  cause,  and  at  the  same  time  the  excuse  for 
his  oversight,  as  I  have  reason  to  suspect." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  '11  warrant  it,"  replied  Amsden  pettishly, 
"  it 's  just  like  him.  His  head  is  always  so  full  of  ciphering 
questions,  grammar  puzzles,  and  all  sorts  of  bookish  wrinkles, 
that  there  is  no  room  for  any  thing  else  ;  and  I  can  scarcely 
trust  him  to  manage  the  most  simple  business,  he  is  often  so 
absent-minded  and  blundering." 

"  And  yet,"  rejoined  the  other,  "  I  should  feel  proud  of  his 
faults,  while  they  sprang  only  from  such  causes,  if  I  was  his 
father.  Come,  come,  my  lad,"  he  continued,  turning  and 
soothingly  addressing  the  boy,  "  cheer  up ;  you  have  com 
mitted  no  very  serious  offence,  I  suspect.  At  all  events,  I 
will  venture  to  take  the  sugar  which  your  father  thinks  ia 
2 


LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

spoiled  off  his  hands,  and  pay  full  price  for  it,  to  give  to  my 
little  girl  down  at  the  house.  She  is  very  fond  of  the  maple 
sweet,  I  believe." 

"  Pay  for  it  ?  —  buy  it  ?  No,  you  sha'nt,  unless  you  really 
want  to  buy  some  for  yourself,  and  then  you  should  have 
some  better  than  this,"  quickly  interposed  the  father,  taken 
wholly  aback  by  this  unexpected  proposition  and  course  of 
the  stranger ;  "  no,  indeed,  sir.  Why,  it  is  all  nothing.  I 
was  only  a  little  vexed  at  the  boy's  carelessness,  that's  all. 
I  care  nothing  about  the  sugar,  even  if  it  had  been  burnt  up, 
as  it  is  not,  I  presume.  But  we  will  now  see.  And  at  any 
rate,  the  little  girl  shall  have  as  much  sugar  as  she  wants, 
without  paying  for  it  either.  Locke,  bring  us  a  clean  tub  to 
turn  it  into,  and  we  will  see  what  can  be  done  with  it." 

"  You  are  quite  mistaken  about  the  quantity  of  what  might 
be  made  of  all  that  is  in  that  kettle,  father,"  said  the  boy,  now 
brightening  up,  and  bringing  the  receptacle  asked  for ;  "  I 
took  the  syrup  from  the  kettle  but  a  few  hours  ago,  and, 
gathering  a  few  pails  of  the  clearest  sap  I  could  find,  and 
straining  it,  I  filled  up  anew,  thinking  I  would  boil  down  a 
few  pounds  as  nice  as  I  could  for  brag-sugar." 

"  Well,  it  does  look  pretty  clear,  and  it  is  not  done  down 
to  sugar  yet,  I  see.  I  was  deceived  by  there  being  so  little 
of  it,"  remarked  the  father,  in  a  moderated  tone,  as  he  turned 
off  into  the  tub  the  rich,  red  fluid,  which,  after  all,  had  only 
boiled  down  to  the  consistency  of  a  very  thin  molasses.  "  O, 
yes,  tliis  may  be  brought  to  something  quite  decent.  Have 
you  any  milk  or  eggs  for  cleansing,  Locke  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  both." 

"  Well,  then,  beat  up  the  white  of  an  egg,  and  add  a  little 
milk,  if  you  please  ;  and  by  the  time  you  have  prepared  the 
mixture,  I  will  have  the  syrup  cool  enough  for  clarifying. 
We  may  as  well  finish  it  now,  perhaps." 

In  a  few  moments,  the  liquid  was  sufficiently  cooled,  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  15 

mixture  stirred  in,  and  the  whole  placed  in  the  kettle  over  a 
small  fire,  before  which  the  farmer,  with  skimmer  in  hand, 
took  his  station,  to  be  ready  for  the  process  of  cleansing. 
The  liquor,  beginning  almost  instantly  to  feel  the  heat,  at 
first  gave  out  a  sharp,  singing  sound,  which,  as  the  greenish- 
gray  cloud  of  impurities  rapidly  rose  and  gathered  in  a  thick, 
mantling  coat  over  the  surface,  gradually  changed  into  a  low, 
stifled  roar,  growing  more  bass  and  indistinct,  till  it  suddenly 
ceased  with  the  first  bubble  that  rose  to  the  dis rupturing 
surface.  The  feculent  coat,  thus  collected  and  broken,  was 
then  quickly  skimmed  off,  leaving  the  pure  and  brightly 
contrasting  liquid  to  rise,  as  the  next  instant  it  did,  with 
diffusing  ebulitions,  to  the  top  of  the  kettle  in  a  fleckered 
mass  of  yellow  foam,  resembling  some  fantastic  fret-work  of 
gold. 

While  the  father  stood  over  the  kettle  rapidly  plying  his 
skimmer  to  prevent  the  contents  from  boiling  over,  the 
stranger  turned  to  the  son,  and  entered  into  conversation 
with  him,  with  the  apparent  object  of  drawing  him  out ;  asking 
him  many  questions  relative  to  his  studies,  and  often  mani 
festing  both  interest  and  surprise  at  the  answers  which  were 
promptly  returned. 

"  Your  son  bears  the  name  of  a  great  and  learned  man," 
observed  the  gentleman,  turning  at  length  to  the  father.  "  Do 
you  intend  he  shall  try  to  rival  his  namesake  in  knowledge 
and  fame  ?  " 

"  Don't  know  any  thing  about  that.  But  you  are  wandering 
considerable  further  than  you  need  to  for  his  name.  He  got 
that  from  his  mother :  her  maiden  name  was  Locke." 

"  O,  ho  !  But  don't  you  think  of  giving  him  an  educa 
tion  ?  " 

"  Education  ?  why  I  am  giving  him  one.  He  attends  our 
district  school  regularly  every  winter." 

"  1  meant  a  public  education." 


16  LOCKE    AM3DEN,    OR 

"  Then  I  say,  No  ;  I  intend  him  for  a  farmer." 
"  That  is  right  —  it  is  a  noble  calling,  but  one,  let  me  tell 
you,  sir,  that  affords  no  argument  against  a  public  education. 
I  am  well  aware,  that  it  is  deemed  unnecessary,  by  the  people 
of  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  especially,  to  give  liberal 
educations  to  any  of  their  sons,  except  those  destined  for  the 
learned  professions  ;  but  I  cannot  but  consider  this  a  great 
error,  and  one  whose  consequences  are  seriously  felt  by  the 
agricultural  interest,  which,  in  its  various  relations,  must 
ever  remain  the  great  and  leading  interest  of  the  country." 

"  riow  so  ? " 

"  Why,  the  first  and  direct  consequence  of  the  course  ] 
condemn  is,  that  it  places  nearly  all  the  science,  and  most  of 
the  intellect,  of  the  country  in  the  professions  ;  and  from  thia 
spring  a  train  of  others,  all  tending  to  the  same  point.  The 
business  of  agriculture  is  thus  left  to  be  conducted  by  the 
unscientific  and  more  unthinking  portion  of  community,  and 
its  advance  in  improvement  will,  of  course,  be  comparatively 
slow.  Grades  are  thus  established  in  society,  in  which  the 
farming  is  made  less  honorable  than  professional  business, 
operating  as  an  inducement  for  all  the  most  enterprising  and 
ambitious  to  leave  the  former,  already  too  much  neglected, 
and  crowd  into  the  latter,  already  so  much  overstocked  as  to 
have  become  the  fruitful  source  of  demagogues  and  sharpers. 
And  besides  all  this,  the  farming  interest,  under  the  present 
order  of  things,  will  never  be  efficiently  or  adequately  repre 
sented  in  our  legislatures,  where  those  interests  will  always* 
be  best  protected  and  promoted  which  furnish  the  most  talent 
to  advocate  and  forward  them." 

"  Well,  some  part  of  that  may  be  true,  sir,  especially  your 
notion  about  too  many  quitting  work  to  go  into  the  professions, 
and  become  idlers  and  sharpers  ;  but  I  really  can't  see  what 
use  high  learning  is  to  a  man  in  carrying  on  the  business  of 
farming  —  can  you  ?  " 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  17 

"  Yes,  sir.  Even  in  the  mere  management  of  your  grounds, 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  sciences  will  give  you  many  and 
great  advantages." 

"  What  advantages,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  One,  and  a  great  one,  too,  will  be  that  it  will  show  you 
the  true  nature  and  capabilities  of  the  different  soils  of  your 
farm,  which  can  be  accurately  known  only  by  a  knowledge 
of  chemistry  and  geology.  It  was  through  these  sciences 
that  plaster  was  discovered,  and  its  use  in  supplying  the 
place  of  some  ingredient  which,  by  the  same  means,  was 
found  to  be  wanting  to  make  the  soil  fruitful.  You  have 
used  this  article,  perhaps,  on  your  own  farm  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  ;  and  if  the  article  came  by  the  sciences,  I 
should  be  willing,  for  one,  that  the  sciences  should  take  it 
away  again.  A  year  or  two  ago,  I  laid  out  about  a  dozen 
dollars  in  ground  plaster  to  sow  over  an  old,  worn-out  piece 
of  bottom  land  of  mine  ;  and  I  might  have  as  well  sown  so 
much  ground  moonshine,  as  for  any  good  it  did.  Well,  the 
next  year,  I  put  a  lot  on  to  a  heavy,  wet  piece  of  land,  to  see 
whether  it  might  not  help  that ;  and  I  come  out  with  just 
about  as  much  benefit  as  before.  In  both  cases,  my  money 
was  thrown  away." 

"  And  yet,  sir,  that  is  one  of  those  facts  which  go  strongly 
to  prove  what  I  have  said.  Without  chemical  analysis,  it 
can  with  no  certainty  be  determined  what  ingredients  are 
lacking  in  any  soil  to  restore  its  fertility.  The  knowledge  I 
contend  for  would  have  taught  you  this,  and  enabled  you  to 
lay  out  your  money  where,  instead  of  being  thrown  away,  it 
would  have  been  doubled.  It  would  have  taught  you,  that 
alluvial  soils,  or  meadows,  are  rarely,  if  ever,  benefited  by 
plaster  ;  lime,  potash,  salt,  or  a  mixture  of  some  other  soil 
being  required,  to  produce  the  necessary  change.  And  so 
with  wet,  heavy  soils,  whose  defects  are  better  remedied  by 
an  addition  of  peat,  loam,  or  gravel ;  while  high  and  dry 
2* 


18  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

soils  are  generally  made  productive,  to  an  astonishing  degree, 
by  plaster  alone." 

"  Is  that  a  fact  ?     "Well,  I  never  knew  it  before." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  this,  and  much  more  of  the  same  character,  has 
already  been  ascertained,  not  by  practical  farmers,  but  by. 
men  of  science,  who  have  made  these  discoveries  by  only 
occasionally  turning  their  attention  to  the  subject.  And  if 
so  much  has  been  done  by  those  who  made  it  not  their  main 
object  and  business,  what  might  not  be  effected  by  a  whole 
community  of  educated  farmers,  whose  whole  energies  and 
interests  were  devoted  to  the  work  of  improvement  ?  Indeed, 
sir,  I  seriously  believe,  that  if  our  legislatures  would  establish 
a  fund  for  the  liberal  education  of  young  farmers,  with  the 
condition  that  they  should  remain  such,  they  would  do  a 
thousand  times  more  towards  promoting  and  elevating  the 
great  interest  of  agriculture,  to  say  nothing  of  the  general 
benefits  which  would  follow  —  would  do  a  thousand  times 
more  than  by  all  the  premiums  they  could  offer  for  best 
products,  or  all  the  societies  they  could  establish." 

"  Well,  I  confess,  sir,  that  your  ideas,  which  are  new  to 
me,  look  kinder  reasonable.  But  what  is  the  reason  all  these 
things  cannot  be  learned  in  our  common  schools  ?  We  have 
them  in  all  our  districts,  both  summer  and  winter,  and  gen 
erally  keep  our  children  in  them  more  than  half  of  the  year, 
from  the  ages  of  four  to  twenty." 

"  Perhaps  most  of  the  sciences  might  be  acquired  in  our 
common  schools,  if  they  were  conducted  properly,  and  by 
teachers  of  adequate  qualifications.  But  as  at  present  man 
aged,  and  with  the  low  wages  now  given,  it  is  next  to  a 
miracle  to  find  a  teacher  thus  qualified.  Now,  for  instance, 
as  regards  your  son  here,  I  very  much  doubt  whether  you 
will  ever  have  a  teacher  in  your  district,  who  will  be  able  to 
instruct  him  much  more,  especially  in  those  higher  branches 
which  he  is  now  evidently  capable  of  entering  upon  with 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  19 

profit  to  himself.  No,  sir,  you  should  send  him  to  the  public 
schools.  It  will  give  him  advantages  in  life,  which  he  can 
never  otherwise  obtain.  Knowledge  is  power." 

"  Well,  sir,  if  knowledge  is  power,  as  in  some  respects  it 
probably  is,  it  is  often  used,  I  fear,  by  those  who  have  it,  to 
take  advantage  of  the  weak  and  honest  laboring  people,  who 
don't  happen  to  be  so  well  educated." 

"  Such  advantages  may  be,  and  sometimes  doubtless  are, 
taken  by  some,  who  have  knowledge  without  moral  principle. 
But  the  proportion  of  unprincipled  men  among  the  well 
educated,  I  am  satisfied,  is  much  smaller  than  among  an 
equal  number  of  almost  any  class  of  society.  Allowing, 
however,  the  proportion  to  be  the  same,  or  greater,  how 
would  you  disarm  them  of  that  power  ?  In  no  other  way, 
certainly,  than  by  placing  the  same  weapons  of  knowledge  in 
the  hands  of  the  many,  instead  of  the  few.  I  am  no  advocate 
for  power  to  be  used  in  the  manner  you  mention.  I  am  no 
advocate  for  the  doctrine, 

'  That  those  who  think,  must  govern  those  who  toil.' 

I  believe,  sir,  as  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  show,  that  those 
who  think  and  those  who  toil  should  be  one  and  the  same 
class  ;  and,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  I  believe  this  desirable 
object  can  never  be  effected,  without  affording  the  means  of 
a  more  general  and  thorough  education," 

During  the  foregoing  dialogue  between  Mr.  Amsden  and 
his  guest,  —  who  stood  over  the  kettle  of  boiling  sugar,  occa 
sionally  dipping  into  it  with  their  slender  wooden  spoons  or 
paddles,  to  sip  the  pure  liquid,  or  the  less  cloying  sweet  of 
the  snowy  scum  continually  gathering  in  concentric  and 
surgy  lines  around  the  point  of  ebulition,  —  Locke  stood  like 
one  spell-bound  to  the  spot,  eagerly  drinking  in  the  words 
and  opinions  of  the  courteous  stranger,  who  had  so  eloquently 
expressed  the  feelings  of  Ins  own  breast,  and  given  a  definite 


20  LOCKE   AHSDEN,    OK 

shape  to  many  a  confused  idea  of  a  similar  bearing,  which 
had  often  risen  in  his  own  mind.  His  heart,  swelling  with 
irrepressible  emotions,  gratefully  responded  to  every  senti 
ment  he  had  heard ;  and  he  felt  as  if  he  could  have  fallen 
down  and  worshipped,  as  a  superior  being,  the  man  who  had 
uttered  them.  He  had  often  before,  as  just  intimated,  har 
bored  thoughts,  feelings,  and  wishes  like  those  of  the  stranger ; 
yet  they  had  been  vague  and  uncertain,  and  he  never  dared 
cherish  them  as  practicable  for  himself,  or  indulge  in  any 
expectation  of  their  fulfilment.  But  now  the  train,  which 
had  long  been  preparing  in  his  bosom,  was  fired  never  more 
to  be  extinguished. 

By  this  time,  the  now  slowly  boiling  sugar  had  settled 
low  in  the  kettle,  and  assumed  that  deep,  orange  hue,  which 
indicates  a  near  approach  to  that  point  at  which  granulation 
takes  place  almost  as  soon  as  the  mass  ceases  boiling. 

"  Come,  Locke,"  said  Mr.  Amsden,  raising  aloft  his  skim 
mer,  from  which  each  falling  drop  was  followed  by  a  fine, 
silken  harl,  that  stiffened  and  shivered  in  the  breeze ;  "  come, 
it  throws  off  the  hairs  pretty  smartly,  I  see  ;  we  may  as 
well  call  it  done,  I  think.  You  may  bring,"  he  continued, 
lifting  off  the  kettle,  "  you  may  bring  me  a  clean  pail  to  take 
it  home  in.  And  hav  'nt  you  a  tin  cup  or  something,  Locke, 
into  which  you  can  take  some  by  itself  to  carry  to  the  gentle 
man's  little  girl  ?  —  it  might  please  her  better." 

"  We  have  nothing  fit  for  that,  here,  father,  I  believe," 
replied  the  boy.  "  But  stay  —  I  made  something  the  other 
day  that  will  do,  I  think  ;  and  I  will  give  it  to  her,  sugar 
and  all,  to  carry  off  with  her,  if  she  will  accept  it." 

So  saying,  he  ran  into  the  shantee,  and  returned  with  a 
small,  neatly-made,  oblong  box,  holding,  perhaps,  about  a 
pint,  which  he  had  chiseled  and  cut  out  from  a  solid  billet  of 
the  beautiful  bird's-eye  maple,  having  provided  it  with  a 
curiously  carved  slide-cover,  and  tastefully  stained  the  wholo 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  21 

with  the  pale  pink  of  some  vegetable  coloring-matter  that  he 
had  found  in  the  woods. 

"  Upon  my  word  !  "  said  the  stranger,  glancing  at  the  box, 
as  it  was  being  filled  and  set  aside  to  cool  by  its  ingenious 
and  free-hearted  little  owner,  "  upon  my  word,  Master  Locke, 
you  seem  to  have  a  genius  for  every  thing.  That  is  one  of 
the  neatest  specimens  of  mechanical  skill,  considering  your 
means  of  making  it  here  in  the  woods,  which  I  have  seen 
this  long  while.  My  daughter,  I  think,  will  feel  quite  proud 
of  her  present." 

"  O,  the  boy  knows  enough,"  said  Amsden  with  affected 
indifference,  as  he,  with  the  pail  of  new  sugar,  and  his  son, 
with  the  box,  having  filled  up  the  kettles  with  sap,  and 
replenished  the  fires,  now  started  with  their  guest  for  the 
house,  "  he  knows  enough,  no  doubt ;  and  if  he  would  only 
turn  his  mind  on  business  to  some  account,  he  might  make 
considerable  of  a  man." 

On  reaching  and  entering  the  house,  our  young  hero  sent 
a  sheepish  and  inquiring  glance  around  the  room  in  search 
of  the  object  on  which  he  had  promised  himself  the  pleasure 
of  bestowing  his  sweet  and  pretty  gift ;  but  when  that  fair 
object  met  his  admiring  gaze,  with  her  brightly  blue  eyes 
and  sweetly  expressive  countenance,  his  courage  suddenly 
failed  him,  and  he  found  himself  unable  to  approach  and 
make  the  offering,  till  her  father,  interposing,  directed  her 
attention  to  the  present,  which  he  told  her  his  young  friend, 
Master  Locke,  had  generously  proposed  to  make  her ;  when, 
feeling  that  there  was  now  no  retreat  for  him,  he  timidly 
advanced,  and  silently  presented  the  box  to  the  smiling  girl, 
who  received  it,  at  first,  with  a  playful  "  thank  'ee,"  and  then, 
as  she  drew  out  the  cover,  and  ascertained  the  contents,  with 
lively  expressions  of  grateful  delight.  This  breaking  the  ice 
of  his  bashfulness,  Locke  soon  found  himself  engaged  with 
his  fair  friend  in  a  sociable  conversation,  which  was  main-« 


22  LOCKE   AMSDEN,    OR 

tained  on  her  part  with  that  sort  of  unconscious  frankness,  or 
forwardness,  perhaps  we  might  say,  which  characterizes  the 
manners  of  the  sex  at  the  age  of  the  one  in  question. 

The  company  were  now  summoned  to  the  excellent  dinner, 
which  the  provident  and  ambitious  mistress  of  the  house  had 
prepared  for  the  occasion.  The  meal,  which  she  had  spread 
on  her  best  cherry  table,  covered  with  a  cloth  of  snowy 
whiteness,  the  workmanship  of  her  own  hands  from  distaff  to 
hemming  and  marking,  consisted,  in  the  first  place,  of  ham, 
eggs,  and  other  varieties  of  the  substantial  food  usually 
found  upon  the  farmer's  table.  Then  came  the  fine  meal 
Indian  Johnny-cake,  mixed  with  cream,  eggs,  and  sugar,  and 
forming,  when  rightly  made,  perhaps  the  most  delectable 
esculent  of  the  bread  kind,  that  ever  gratified  an  epicure's 
palate.  This  last,  and  the  light,  hot  biscuit,  for  those  who 
chose  them,  together  with  pies,  both  apple  and  minced,  stewed 
fruit,  gooseberry  preserves,  honey,  and  new  sugar,  constituted 
the  desert,  —  the  whole  making  a  repast  which  gave  proof 
that  the  farmer  has  ample  materials  of  his  own  raising,  if  he 
has  but  a  wife  of  competent  skill  in  cookery  to  manage  them, 
to  furnish  a  table  which  may  be  made  to  rival  the  boasted 
banquet-boards  of  princes. 

As  soon  as  the  dinner,  which  had  passed  off  with  great 
sociability  and  good  feeling,  was  finished,  the  travellers, 
pleading  the  necessity  of  diligence  on  their  way,  immediately 
commenced  preparations  for  resuming  their  journey.  The 
horse,  which,  in  the  mean  time,  had  been  returned  and  well 
cared  for  by  the  boy  who  had  taken  him  in  charge,  was  now, 
by  the  same  active  little  groom,  speedily  cleaned,  harnessed, 
and  brought  up  with  the  carriage  to  the  door.  And,  the 
next  moment,  the  gentleman,  with  the  sprightly  little  Mary 
(for  such,  it  appeared,  was  the  girl's  name,)  emerged  from  the 
house,  followed  by  the  family,  who  now  gathered  round  the 
carriage  to  witness  the  departure  of  those  who  seemed  to 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  23 

have  succeeded,  in  two  brief  hours,  in  awakening  an  interest 
which  is  usually  created  only  by  a  long  and  intimate  ac 
quaintance. 

"Now,  Mr.  Amsden,"  said  the  stranger,  turning  to  his 
host,  after  placing  his  daughter  in  her  seat,  "  now,  I  will 
settle  with  you  for  the  shoeing  of  the  horse,  our  dinners,  and 
all  other  trouble,  to  say  nothing  of  the  hospitable  kindness 
with  which  you  all  have  made  us  feel  so  much  at  home. 
What,  sir,  will  be  your  bill  ?  " 

"  Ben,  what  did  Mr.  Dighton  say  he  should  charge  ? " 
asked  the  other,  turning  to  his  boy. 

"  Forty  cents,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 

"  Well,  forty  cents,  then,  is  the  bill,"  resumed  the  farmer. 

"Yes,  but  the  rest  of  your  charges  ?  " 

"  We  will  trust  you  for  that." 

"  I  should  prefer  to  pay,  sir." 

"  You  may,  if  you  will  allow  me  to  direct  the  manner  of 
payment." 

"  Very  well,  sir ;  speak  on." 

"  Why,  when  you  get  settled  down  in  life  again,  give  some 
other  traveller  a  dinner,  if  he  is  as  good  company  as  you 
have  been,  and  that  shall  square  the  account  between  us." 

"  I  will,  however,  make  your  boys  a  present." 

"  Better  see  whether  they  will  take  any  thing  first,  sir." 

"  0,  no,  no,  sir,"  quickly  interposed  Locke,  as  the  gentlemen 
was  opening  his  purse. 

"  Not  a  cent  for  me,  Mister  ;  that  aint  the  way  I  get  my 
living,"  chimed  in  the  spirited  and  proud  little  Ben. 

"  All,  I  see  you  are  all  determined  to  have  your  way  at 
this  time,"  smilingly  remarked  the  stranger :  "  however,  all 
may  come  right  hereafter,  perhaps.  But  as  the  matter  now 
stands,  I  have  only  to  express  my  sense  of  obligation  to  each 
and  all  of  you.  And  one  thing  more,  before  we  part,  Mr. 


24  LOCKE   AMSDEN,    OR 

Amsden  —  let  me  repeat  to  you  my  advice,  to  give  this  elder 
son  of  yours  the  chance  for  a  good  education." 

"  Do  you  think  he  has  capacities  which  would  warrant 
such  a  step,  sir  ?  "  asked  the  gratified  mother  of  the  boy. 

"  Indeed,  I  certainly  do,  Madam. ;  even  to  sending  him  to  a 
college,"  replied  the  other. 

"  That  would  be  impossible  in  my  circumstances,  provided 
I  thought  as  you  do  on  the  subject,"  remarked  Mr.  Amsden. 

"  Let  him  go  to  a  good  academy,  then,"  rejoined  the 
stranger. 

"  Well,  now,  I  don't  exactly  know  about  that,"  replied  the 
other.  "  He  may  go  winters  to  our  district  schools  as  long 
as  he  pleases  ;  and  I  think,  for  the  present,  at  least,  that  he 
should,  and  will  be,  quite  satisfied  with  that.  Is  it  not  so, 
Locke  ?  " 

"  Why,"  answered  the  boy  diffidently,  "  I  should  be  satis 
fied  to  go  to  our  district  masters,  if  they  could  tell  me  the 
reasons  of  things,  which  I  always  wish  to  know." 

"  That  is  right,  Master  Locke,  responded  the  stranger  ; 
"  you  have  expressed,  in  almost  a  word,  the  great  aim  and 
essence  of  all  true  knowledge  and  philosophy  — '  to  know  the 
reason  of  things.'  Yes,  my  young  friend,  let  that  still  be 
your  ambition  ;  and,  if  your  father  will  give  you  the  opportu 
nity,  I  doubt  not  you  will  do  honor  to  the  motto  you  have 
chosen." 

"  Well,  I  would  be  a  scholar,  Locke,  if  I  was  you,"  added 
Mary,  with  charming  naivete  ;  and  if  you  will,  and  come  and 
keep  school  where  I  live,  I  will  go  to  school  to  you,  and 
become  a  great  scholar  too,  if  I  can." 

The  travellers  now  took  their  leave  of  the  family,  and  drove 
from  the  yard,  attended  by  the  repeatedly  expressed  good 
wishes  of  the  good-hearted  farmer,  and  his  equally  kind  and 
more  high-minded  companion.  And,  in  these  wishes,  they 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  25 

were  joined  by  another,  who,  though  he  had  uttered  less,  yet 
felt  more  than  they  had  expressed !  That  was  our  young 
hero  ;  who,  as  the  rest  of  the  family  returned  into  the  house, 
stood  mutely  gazing  after  the  receding  carriage,  till  its  last 
traces  were  lost  to  his  sight ;  when  he  slowly  turned  away, 
the  big  drops  of  tears  standing  in  his  eyes,  and  his  lip  quiv 
ering  with  emotions  which  had  been  awakened  by  this  brief, 
but  to  him,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel,  important  visit  of 
these  interesting  strangers. 


CHAPTER    II. 

"  The  dream,  the  thii-st,  the  wild  desire, 
Delirious,  yet  divine  —  to  Jcnow ! " 

BULWER. 

THE  accidental  call  of  the  travellers  at  the  house  of  the 
farmer,  as  narrated  in  our  opening  chapter,  formed  an  era  in 
the  life  of  Locke  Amsden.  By  that  call,  new  thoughts 
had  been  suggested  to  his  mind  —  new  feelings  and  hopes 
awakened  in  his  bosom  ;  and,  as  the  slumbering  energies  of 
his  intellectual  and  moral  nature  became  thus  aroused,  young 
ambition  began  to  point  him  upward  to  the  temple  of  science, 
over  whose  distanced-hallowed  pinnacles  floated  the  mystic 
banner  of  fame.  At  first,  every  word  of  the  revered  stranger 
was  recalled,  every  position  revolved  over  and  over  in  mind, 
and  every  argument  carefully  weighed  ;  and  the  result  of  the 
process  was  faith  and  conviction.  Then  came  the  inspiriting 
words  of  the  beautiful  little  being,  who,  in  angel  shape,  had 
thus  appeared  in  his  path  to  incite  him  onward ;  and,  "  / 
would  be  a  scholar,  Locke"  continued  to  ring  in  his  ears. 
"  Ay,  and  I  will  be  a  scholar  ! "  he  at  length  mentally  ejacu 
lated  ;  "  and  then  I  will  go  where  she  lives,  and  she  shall 
know  that  I  have  worthily  done  her  bidding,  and  justified 
the  good  opinion  of  her  father.  But  where  does  she  live  ?  — 
yes,  where  ?  "  For  he  now  recollected,  that  he  had  not 
learned  from  her,  or  her  father,  the  place  of  their  residence ; 
and,  under  the  proud  and  joyous  impulse  which  his  reverie 
had  imparted,  he  flew  to  his  parents  with  the  inquiry.  But 
neither  of  them  could  answer  it.  They  had  not  ascertained 
even  the  family  name  of  their  visiters.  Mr.  Amsden  had 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  27 

thought  of  asking  the  man  these  particulars  ;  but,  it  occurring 
to  him  that  his  wife  would  naturally  find  them  out  from  the 
little  girl,  he  desisted.  And  this  Mrs.  Amsden  had  intended 
to  do  ;  but  her  attention  was  so  much  engrossed  in  the  cares 
of  preparing  the  dinner,  that  she  had  neglected  it,  till  the 
return  of  the  gentleman  into  the  house  deprived  her  of  the 
opportunity  of  doing  so,  without  appearing  obtrusive.  The 
Christian  name  of  the  girl,  therefore,  with  the  fact,  that  she 
and  her  father  came  from  a  place  some  fifty  miles  to  the 
south,  and  were  destined  to  another  nearly  as  far  to  the 
north,  was  all  that  had  been  ascertained  concerning  them, 
other  than  what  their  personal  appearance  indicated.  But, 
although  our  young  hero  was  thus  left  in  ignorance  of  the 
names,  residence,  character,  and  calling  of  his  new  friends, 
and  for  many  years  was  doomed  to  remain  so,  yet  the  event 
of  their  visit  was  not  the  less  destined  to  exercise  an  important 
influence  on  his  future  life  and  fortunes.  It  seemed  to  be, 
indeed,  one  of  those  trifling  incidents  which  so  often  seem  to 
change  the  fate  of  individuals,  and  impart  an  enduring  im 
pulse  towards  a  destiny  to  which,  in  all  human  probability, 
they  otherwise  would  never  have  been  called.  Such  an 
impulse  had  been  imparted,  in  the  present  instance,  by  the 
mere  call  of  two  entire  strangers  ;  and  that  simple  incident 
would  probably  have  been  sufficient  of  itself,  had  no  other 
grown  out  of  it,  to  give  a  new  and  continuing  direction  to 
the  energies  of  him  on  whom  it  so  peculiarly  operated.  But 
there  yet  remained  to  be  added  another  occurrence  arising 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  first,  which  was  directly  calcu 
lated  to  strengthen  every  impulse  already  received,  and  every 
resolution  formed  under  it. 

About  a  month  from  the  time  the  incidents  we  have  been 
sketching  transpired,  a  strong  board  box,  directed  to  Master 
Locke  Amsden,  was  left  at  the  door  by  a  teamster ;  who,  saying 
he  had  received  it  from  another  teamster,  with  directions  to 


28  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

leave  it  at  this  place,  went  on  his  way,  without  giving  any 
further  information  respecting  it,  or  those  who  sent  it. 

Wondering  what  might  be  the  contents  of  the  box,  the 
receipt  of  which  was  so  unexpected  to  him,  though  partly 
anticipating  the  source  from  which  it  must  have  come,  Locke 
flew  for  his  hammer,  and  knocked  off  the  cover  ;  when,  to 
his  joyful  surprise,  he  found  the  box  filled  with  books,  upon 
the  top  of  which  lay  a  neatly  folded  and  superscribed  little 
billet,  directed  to  himself.  Eagerly  snatching  up  the  paper, 
he  opened  it,  and  read,  in  the  finely-traced  characters  of  an 
unsettled  female  hand,  the  laconic  contents  :  — 

"A  lot  of  old,  musty  volumes,  in  return  for  your  nice 
little  present.  Father  has  picked  them  out  from  his  old 
college  books,  and  given  them  to  me  to  send  to  you,  saying 
you  would  like  them.  If  you  think,  as  he  says,  about  them, 
I  shall  be  pleased  to  have  you  accept  them  from 

"  Your  friend, 

«  MARY." 

With  a  low  shout  of  irrepressible  joy,  he  now  hastily 
caught  up  his  treasure,  rushed  into  the  house,  and,  calling  on 
his  mother  to  come  and  witness  his  good  fortune,  fell  to 
unpacking  the  books,  greedily  running  over  the  title-pages 
of  each,  as,  with  many  a  half-suppressed  exclamation  of 
pleasure,  he  successively  took  out  the  different  volumes, 
which,  to  the  number  of  eight  or  ten,  the  box  contained,  and 
spread  them  around  him  on  the  floor.  The  collection  con 
sisted  of  a  complete  set  of  mathematics,  from  common 
arithmetic  to  fluxions  ;  a  standard  work  on  natural  philoso 
phy  ;  another  on  astronomy ;  together  with  separate  treatises 
upon  geology,  mineralogy,  and  chemistry ;  while  the  whole 
was  accompanied  by  a  good  set  of  mathematical  instru 
ments. 

From  what  we  have  already  shown  the  reader  of  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  29 

character  and  inclinations  of  Locke,  it  may  be  easily  imag 
ined  with  what  rapture  he  doted  on  this  munificent  and 
appropriate  present,  not  only  from  its  intrinsic  value,  and 
the  untold  advantages  which  he  was  to  reap  from  it,  but  for 
the  fair  giver,  and  her  prompting  father,  by  whom  it  had 
been  so  delicately  and  flatteringly  bestowed,  —  with  what 
pleasure  he  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he  should  be 
allowed  to  devote  himself  wholly  to  the  great,  but  coveted 
task,  which,  in  these  books,  he  now  saw  set  before  him.  By 
most  others,  perhaps,  the  course  of  mathematics  here  pre 
sented,  had  been  viewed  only  as  a  labor  of  almost  endless 
toil  and  difficulty.  He,  however,  looked  upon  it  but  as  a 
labor  of  delight,  so  much  the  better  for  its  promised  length, 
since  that  would  add  so  much  the  more  to  the  fund  of  his 
happiness.  For  the  first  week,  his  leisure  was  given  to 
looking  over  the  siibject  matter  on  which  the  volumes  of  his 
prized  little  library  severally  treated,  and  arranging  the 
order,  in  which  his  own  good  sense  and  discrimination 
rightly  taught  him  they  should  be  studied.  Having  settled 
this,  and  accordingly  determined  to  make  mathematics  his 
first  study,  while  he  should  proceed  with  geology  and  the 
like  as  his  light  reading,  he  began  with  algebra,  assiduously, 
and  with  his  usual  systematic  perseverance,  devoting  to  it 
every  hour  he  could  snatch  from  his  customary  employments 
on  the  farm.  And  thus,  making  what  progress  he  could,  in 
the  brief  intervals  allowed  him  for  the  purpose,  and  leaving 
all  knotty  points  to  be  thought  over  and  solved  while  at  work 
in  the  field,  he  alone,  unassisted  and  unprompted,  steadily 
pursued  the  course  he  had  marked  out  for  himself,  neither 
seeking  nor  asking  any  other  recreation  or  pleasure  than 
what  his  studies  afforded.  But,  although  this  course  was  a 
source  of  constant  pleasure  to  Locke,  not  so  did  it  soon 
become  to  his  honest  but  simple-minded  father,  who,  rightly 
enough  attributing  his  son's  growing  inadvertencies  in  busi- 
3* 


30  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

ness  to  these  books,  often  wished,  in  his  heart,  the  whole 
collection  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  And  these  inadvertencies, 
which  so  naturally  grew  out  of  the  course  he  was  pursuing, 
were,  it  must  be  confessed,  not  unfrequently  of  a  character 
to  cause  vexation  to  a  business  man  of  a  less  petulant  turn 
than  Mr.  Ainsden.  For,  if  the  latter  had  reason  to  complain 
of  his  son  in  this  respect  before,  he  had  much  more  cause 
for  doing  so  now  ;  since,  with  the  greatest  willingness  and 
undoubted  capacities  for  work,  the  boy  too  often  effected  but 
little,  and  as  often  did  that  little  wrong.  In  those  kinds  of 
labor,  to  be  sure,  where  he  could  induce  his  father  to  task  him, 
he  would  apply  every  energy  of  body  and  mind,  till  his  task 
was  completed,  which  was  generally  by  noon  ;  when,  for  the 
remainder  of  the  day,  he  might  be  seen  lying  on  the  grass, 
under  some  shady  tree,  with  his  book  and  instruments  spread 
before  him.  But  in  work  which  would  not  admit  of  this,  the 
problems  that  he  took  with  him  in  his  head  into  the  field, 
often  led  to  singular  oversights  in  the  business  about  which 
his  hands  were  employed.  If  he  was  sent  on  an  errand  to 
some  other  part  of  the  farm,  he  Avould  sometimes  wholly 
forget  what  he  went  for.  Sometimes  he  would  leave  the 
bars  down,  the  cows  unmilked,  or  the  hogs  unfed ;  and  some 
times,  when  hoeing  alone  in  the  cornfield,  and  when  some 
mathematical  question  occurred  to  his  mind  which  he  wished 
to  solve,  he  would  stop  work,  and  making  a  smooth  bed  of 
earth  to  serve  for  slate  or  paper,  fall  to  figuring  or  making 
diagrams  with  his  finger  in  the  place  he  had  thus  prepared, 
and  think  no  more  of  his  hoeing,  perhaps,  till  roused  from 
his  study  by  the  loud  note  of  the  tin  house-trumpet  sum 
moning  him  home  to  his  mid-day  or  evening  meal.  All 
these,  as  innocently  done  as  they  were,  cost  him,  as  may  well 
be  supposed,  many  a  scolding  and  fretful  expostulation  from 
his  impatient  and  driving  father,  who,  as  the  season  of  out 
door  labor  drew  to  a  close,  expressed  himself  heartily 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER.  31 

thankful  that  the  time  for  beginning  the  winter  school  had 
at  length  come,  that  Locke's  body  might  now  go  where  his 
head  and  heart  had  been  all  summer.  On  the  last  point,  at 
least,  the  father  and  son  were  quite  of  the  same  mind.  And, 
accordingly,  the  latter,  as  the  long  wished-for  period  when 
he  could  be  allowed  to  give  himself  wholly  to  his  studies 
arrived,  joyfully  packed  up  his  books,  and  changed  the  scene 
of  his  mental  operations  from  the  farm  to  the  school-house. 
But  here  again  it  was  his  fortune  soon  to  become,  though  not 
exactly  in  the  same  Avay  as  before,  the  unintentional  cause  of 
much  uneasiness  and  perplexity  to  another  personage.  That 
other  personage  was  the  schoolmaster,  who  —  his  acquire 
ments,  as  usual  with  the  mass  of  our  district-school  teachers, 
being  confined  to  common  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  the  like, 
without  the  ability  to  illustrate  one  half  of  the  principles 
even  of  these — viewed  with  considerable  alarm,  at  the  outset, 
the  formidable-looking  books  which  Locke  had  brought  into 
the  school  with  the  avowed  intention  of  pursuing  the  studies 
they  contained.  And  he  made  several  attempts  to  draw  the 
other  from  his  purpose.  Common  arithmetic,  said  lie,  should 
first  be  thoroughly  studied,  and  all  the  sums  worked  over 
and  over,  till  they  were  as  familiar  as  the  alphabet.  Locke, 
in  reply,  said  he  should  like  to  have  a  sum  pointed  out  to 
him  in  any  of  the  arithmetics  which  he  could  not  already  do ; 
though,  if  the  master  would  illustrate  to  him  the  rules  of 
allegation  and  double  position,  he  would  like  to  listen,  as  he 
did  not  quite  understand  all  the  reasons  for  the  results  of 
these  two  rules.  Not  caring  to  push  the  matter  any  farther 
on  that  tack,  the  teacher  next  recommended  geography  as  a 
useful  and  interesting  study.  In  answer  to  this,  Locke  pro 
posed  to  submit  himself  to  an  examination ;  being  able,  as  he 
believed,  to  answer  every  ordinary  question  that  could  be 
raised,  either  on  the  maps  or  in  the  text-book.  The  master 
then  mentioned  English  grammar,  advising  the  other  again 


32  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

to  commit  the  grammar  book  to  memory.  Here,  also,  he 
was  met  by  the  obdurate  pupil,  who,  though  willing  to  join 
the  parsing  class  at  their  lessons,  objected  to  spending  any 
more  time  upon  his  grammar  book  ;  and,  by  the  way  of 
furnishing  a  reason  for  his  objections,  he  immediately  brought 
forward  the  book  in  question,  and,  handing  it  to  the  former, 
kept  him  reluctantly  looking  over  till  the  whole  was  rattled 
off  at  one  recitation. 

Being  foiled  in  these  and  every  other  attempt  of  the  kind, 
the  master  concluded  to  let  Locke  go  on  in  his  chosen  pursuits 
unmolested ;  and  right  thankful  would  he  have  been  for  a 
reciprocation  of  the  favor.  This,  however,  as  with  reason 
he  had  feared,  was  not  granted  him  by  the  unconscious 
object  of  his  dread,  who  soon  called  on  him  for  explanations 
of  problems  or  principles,  of  which  he  knew  about  as  much 
as  the  man  in  the  moon  ;  but  of  which  he  had  unwisely 
determined  to  conceal  his  ignorance,  lest  it  should  be  said  in 
the  district,  that  there  were  scholars  in  the  school  who  knew 
more  than  their  master.  And  having  settled  on  this  course, 
no  other  alternative  now  remained  for  him,  but  to  meet  these 
calls  for  instruction  in  the  best  way  he  could.  And  it  would 
have  been  amusing  enough  to  a  spectator,  in  the  secret,  to 
have  witnessed  the  various  shifts  to  which  the  poor  fellow 
was  driven,  to  get  along  with  his  troublesome  pupil,  without 
exposing  the  ignorance  which  he  was  so  anxious  to  conceal. 
At  one  time,  when  thus  called  on  for  instruction,  he  would 
pretend  such  a  hurry,  that  he  could  not  attend  to  the 
required  explanation  ;  at  another,  when  apparently  he  was 
about  to  comply  with  the  request  of  his  pupil,  he  would 
suddenly  discover  some  delinquency  in  the  school,  which  he 
must  immediately  attend  to,  and  which  would  be  made  to 
occupy  his  attention  so  long,  that  he  would  have  barely  time 
to  hurry  through  the  ordinary  duties  of  school,  before  the 
established  hour  of  closing.  At  another  time,  he  would  take 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  33 

the  book,  look  over  the  difficult  passage,  and,  handing  it  back 
to  Locke  with  a  knowing  smile,  advise  him  to  try  it  again ; 
he  would  soon  see  the  only  difficulty,  and  it  would  be  better 
for  him  to  discover  it  for  himself.  And  at  yet  another,  when 
hard  pressed  for  assistance,  he  would  read  the  problem  in 
question  several  times,  and  after  glancing  at  the  context  till 
he  had  got  the  run  of  the  technical  terms,  proceed  with  a 
pretended  explanation,  for  which  neither  himself,  pupil,  or 
any  one  else,  could  ever  be  any  the  Aviser.  From  this 
unpleasant  predicament,  however,  the  thus  sadly  annoyed 
teacher  was  at  length  happily  relieved.  For  Locke,  finding 
himself  unable  to  make  any  thing  out  of  the  man,  even  when 
he  was  successful  enough  to  get  him  to  look  at  his  studies, 
came,  after  a  while,  to  the  conclusion  to  let  him  entirely 
alone,  and  depend  only  on  himself  for  mastering  the  difficul 
ties  which  he  met  in  his  progress.  And,  with  his  excellent 
self-formed  habits  of  thought  —  that  of  patient  investigation, 
and  of  thoroughly  understanding  every  thing,  as,  step  by 
step,  he  carefully  advanced  —  he  found  but  little  trouble  in 
overcoming  every  obstacle  that  presented  itself  in  his  course 
onward.  And  if  ever,  as  was  rarely  the  case,  he  was  com 
pelled  to  pass  over  a  difficulty  unexplained,  he  never  lost 
sight  of  it  till  it  was  conquered. 

There  is  nothing,  perhaps,  upon  which  the  growth  of 
intellect  so  much  depends,  as  upon  habits  of  thought  ; 
nothing  which  so  clearly  constitutes  the  great  distinguishing 
difference,  in  the  present,  between  a  strong  intellect  and 
a  feeble  one  ;  and  nothing  which  so  conclusively  accounts 
for  the  beginning  and  constant  increase  of  that  difference  in 
the  past,  as  the  opposite  habits  of  thought  that  have  been 
contracted  in  youth,  or,  at  the  latest,  in  the  first  years  of 
manhood.  A  glance  at  the  contrasted  methods  adopted  and 
pursued  by  two  individuals  of  the  two  different  classes  of 
thinkers  to  which  we  have  alluded,  will  show  the  truth  of 


34  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OH 

this  position ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  explain  the  causes  of 
their  respective  intellectual  conditions.  An  individual  of  one 
of  these  classes  begins,  we  will  suppose,  upon  one  of  the 
rudiments  of  education.  Before  mastering  the  first  elemen 
tary  principle,  he  leaves,  or  is  suffered  to  leave  it,  for  the 
next.  In  coming  upon  this,  he  has  not  only  to  contend  with 
the  difficulties  he  left  unmastered  in  the  former  lesson,  but 
those  likewise  of  the  intrinsically  worse  one  of  the  present. 
Both  the  temptation  and  excuse  are  now  doubled  for  sliding 
superficially  over  this  also.  The  third,  in  this  way,  is  found 
still  worse,  and  consequently  is  still  more  imperfectly  mas 
tered  ;  and  so  on,  in  the  particular  branch  on  which  he  is 
engaged,  or  any  other,  probably,  which  he  shall  undertake  to 
learn,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter ;  at  which  he  will  arrive  little 
or  none  benefited  by  all  that  he  has  acquired.  For  the 
knowledge  thus  gained  is  imperfect  and  uncertain,  and 
cannot  be  relied  on  as  data  for  reasoning,  but  is  constantly 
leading  to  false  conclusions.  And  besides  this,  he  has  wholly 
failed  of  gaining  one  of  the  great  objects  of  study  —  mental 
discipline.  lie  has  contracted  the  habit  of  thinking  superfi 
cially  upon  every  thing.  All  his  ideas  become  vague  and 
confused;  and  all  the  operations  of  his  mind,  are,  conse 
quently,  imbecile  and  unsafe,  producing  no  fruits,  or  but  the 
fruits  of  error.  This  intellectual  condition,  indeed,  becomes 
one  that  would  seem  almost  to  justify  the  absurd,  and  without 
considerable  qualification,  the  false  assertion  of  Pope, 

"  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 

Now  for  an  individual  of  the  other  class.  Like  the  former, 
and  with  no  other  advantages,  he  commences  the  same  rudi 
ments.  But,  unlike  the  former,  he  is  induced  to  make 
himself  completely  master  of  the  first  principle,  and  familiar 
with  all  its  details,  before  proceeding  any  farther.  This 
being  accomplished,  he  thus  becomes  armed  with  power  to 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  35 

encounter  the  next ;  which,  in  this  way,  he  finds  but  little  if 
any  more  difficult  than  the  preceding ;  and  which,  when 
equally  well  perfected,  gives  him  still  additional  strength  to 
grapple  with  the  third.  And  so  he  proceeds,  or  may  proceed, 
through  the  whole  circle  of  the  sciences,  carefully  making 
his  way,  step  by  step,  onward ;  never  sliding  over  a  difficulty, 
but  often  retracing  his  steps  to  return  to  the  onset  with 
improved  means  of  overcoming  the  obstacle  in  his  progress. 
In  this  way,  as  he  advances  in  the  path  of  acquirement,  just 
so  much  certain  knowledge  he  gains,  to  be  stored  away  in 
the  chambers  of  his  mind  for  future  appropriation,  either  to 
its  direct  uses,  or  to  the  purposes  of  induction,  comparison, 
or  other  process  of  reasoning.  In  this  way,  also,  his  mind 
acquires  method,  clearness,  and  vigor ;  and  he  thus  becomes 
enabled  to  think  correctly  and  thoroughly,  and  arrive  at  safe 
conclusions  on  whatever  subject  is  presented  for  his  investi 
gation.  Now  these  two  individuals  will  carry  the  different 
habits  of  thought,  thus  respectively  formed  by  them,  into  the 
business  and  various  concerns  of  life  ;  and  the  results  will 
there  be  equally  visible,  as  in  the  walks  of  science.  The 
one  never  thoroughly  investigates  any  subject.  His  views, 
as  before  intimated,  are  all  superficial ;  and  his  conclusions, 
consequently,  as  often  as  otherwise,  are  erroneous,  leading 
him  into  false  movements  in  business,  if  guided  by  his  own 
mind,  if  not  reducing  him  to  a  miserable  dependence  on  the 
opinions  of  others,  by  whom  he  is  liable  to  be  equally  misled. 
The  other  examines  every  subject  presented  for  his  consider 
ation  patiently,  Aveighs  it  carefully,  sees  it  in  all  its  bearings 
clearly,  and  thus  becomes  prepared  to  decide  with  confidence 
and  correctness.  The  one,  in  short,  seeing  only  part  of  the 
bearings  of  the  various  questions  which  are  constantly  arising 
in  life  for  his  decision,  makes  bad  bargains,  or  rejects  good 
ones,  rushes  into  uncertain  speculations,  lives  in  continued 
embarrassments  and  troubles,  which  he  calls  misfortunes,  but 


36  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

which  good  habits  of  thought  would  have  enabled  him  to 
avoid,  and  ends  his  career,  most  probably,  in  poverty  and 
insignificance,  or  in  sudden  ruin  and  disgrace.  The  other, 
carrying  along  with  him  the  means  of  avoiding  the  evil, 
which  is  brought  upon  its  victim  through  the  causes  we  have 
just  named,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  means  of  grasping  the 
good,  which,  through  similar  causes,  is  rejected,  goes  on 
increasing  in  competence,  wisdom,  and  influence,  moving 
quietly  through  life,  and  leaving,  at  his  death,  a  useful 
example,  and  an  honest  fame  behind  him. 

Such  are  generally  the  results  deducible  from  good  and 
bad  habits  of  thought ;  and  yet  who  will  say  these  habits, 
for  good  or  for  evil,  are  not  usually  formed  through  the  care 
or  negligence  of  teachers  ?  Instructors  of  youth,  where 
rests  the  responsibility  ? 

But  to  return  to  our  young  hero.  For  the  remainder  of 
the  winter  school,  though  left,  for  the  best  of  reasons,  by  the 
master,  to  work  his  way  unassisted,  he  pressed  forward 
steadily  and  rapidly  in  his  chosen  course  of  mathematics. 
And  the  school  having  at  length  been  brought  to  a  close, 
spring,  summer,  and  autumn  again  succeeded  but  to  find 
him,  in  every  moment  of  his  leisure,  employed  on  his  studies 
in  the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  untiring  perseverance, 
as  in  the  preceding  season.  One  incident,  however,  occurred 
this  season  to  vary  the  monotony  of  his  secluded  life ;  while, 
at  the  same  time,  it  became  the  means  of  affording  him 
advantages  in  his  studies,  which  he  never  before  had  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  receive.  That  was  an  accidental  acquaintance 
he  formed  with  an  old,  self-taught  land-surveyor,  who  resided 
in  a  different  part  of  the  same  town ;  and  who,  like  himself, 
was  a  great  lover  of  that  strong,  but  healthy  food  of  the 
mind  —  the  science  of  numbers  and  quantities.  Locke  and 
this  man,  by  that  sort  of  intellectual  free-masonry  which 
passes  among  sympathetic  minds,  were  not  long,  when  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  37 

opportunity  occurred,  in  finding  each  other  out,  and  forming 
a  close  intimacy.  The  surveyor,  having  studied  much  more 
than  was  immediately  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  his 
calling,  and  dipped  considerably  deep  into  principles,  was 
able  to  explain  to  the  former  many  knotty  points  which  he 
had  been  puzzled  to  resolve,  besides  showing  him  the  practi 
cal  part  of  surveying,  upon  which,  having  gone  through 
geometry  and  trigonometry,  he  had  now  commenced.  Locke, 
in  return,  brought  the  other  his  books,  which,  to  the  extent 
of  more  than  half  of  them,  at  least,  he  had  never  seen  ; 
and  which,  being  loaned  him,  he  fell  to  studying  with  boyish 
enthusiasm.  No  sooner  was  this  singular  companionship 
thus  fairly  established,  than  our  boy-hero  was  found,  every 
rainy  day,  and  at  other  times  when  he  had  finished  his  tasks, 
during  the  summer  arid  fall,  posting  off  on  foot  to  commune 
and  practise  with  his  gray-headed  brother  in  science.  And 
when  met,  the  two  might  have  been  seen  intently  engaged 
in  surveying  fields,  measuring  heights  and  distances,  or 
patiently  plodding  on  together  in  navigation,  which  they 
soon  jointly  commenced. 

This  pleasing  intercourse,  however,  was  at  length  brought 
to  a  close  by  the  stormy  weather  and  bad  travelling  which 
immediately  preceded  the  setting-in  of  winter.  And  Locke, 
bidding  his  old  friend  farewell,  took  home  his  books  for  the 
purpose  of  resuming  his  studies  in  the  winter  school,  for  the 
beginning  of  which  the  time  had  now  arrived.  But  in  this 
purpose  he  was  for  some  time  doomed  to  be  disappointed. 
For,  when  the  usual  time  for  commencing  the  school  came, 
it  was  found  that  no  teacher  had  been  engaged.  The  com 
mittee,  up  to  this  time,  had  been  waiting  for  applications  for 
the  school,  expecting  that  their  only  trouble,  as  usual,  would 
be  in  deciding  upon  a  selection  of  the  various  applicants. 
But  it  somehow  had  unaccountably  happened,  that  not  a 
single  application  had  been  made ;  and  the  committee  were 
4 


38  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

now  consequently  forced  to  bestir  themselves  in  going  out  in 
search  of  a  teacher.  But  in  this,  also,  they  were  without 
success  ;  for,  though  they  found  candidates  for  teaching  in 
plenty,  they  could  find  no  one,  when  they  named  their  par 
ticular  school,  who  made  not  some  excuse  for  not  undertaking 
to  instruct  it.  This  they  thought  very  strange,  as  their 
school  had  ever  been  considered  a  very  orderly  one.  But  as 
strange  and  uncommon  as  the  trouble  was,  they  were  com 
pelled  to  yield  to  it,  and  reluctantly  give  up  all  thought  of 
having  a  school  that  winter. 

Various  were  the  conjectures  formed  in  the  district,  by 
way  of  accounting  for  this  unexpected  failure.  Some  con 
tended,  that  the  school,  after  all,  must  be  so  unruly  that  no 
teacher  would  engage  in  it ;  others,  that  the  masters  had  not 
been  treated  with  sufficient  attention  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  district  ;  and  yet  others,  that  the  schoolmasters  had 
combined  to  strike  for  higher  wages,  and  had  come  to  the 
determination  not  to  teach  till  the  punished  public  should 
voluntarily  come  forward,  and  offer  the  secretly-fixed  prices. 
Among  all  these,  and  other  sage  conjectures  of  the  cause, 
however,  no  one  had  hit  upon  the  truth.  For  the  true  secret 
of  the  misfortune  at  length  leaked  out ;  when  the  discovery 
was  made,  that  Locke  Amsden  had,  in  fact,  been  the  innocent 
and  unconscious  cause  of  the  whole  of  it.  He,  it  appeared, 
besides  annoying  his  own  teacher  with  questions  too  hard  for 
him,  had  also  been  the  means  of  a  similar  annoyance  to 
many  other  teachers  of  the  neighboring  districts.  He  had 
been  in  the  habit,  the  preceding  winter,  of  frequently  at 
tending  the  evening  spelling-schools,  which  it  was  customary 
for  the  instructors  in  that  section  of  the  country  to  appoint 
and  hold  at  intervals,  through  the  whole  term  of  their  en 
gagements.  And  at  each  of  these  evening  schools,  which  he 
thus  went  abroad  to  attend,  he  was  sure  to  propose  to  one  or 
two  of  the  best  scholars,  for  answer,  some  difficult  point  in 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  39 

grammar,  some  mathematical  question  of  his  own  origi 
nating,  or,  as  was  more  generally  the  case,  such  as  he  had 
met  with  in  his  studies,  and  was  anxious  to  see  explained. 
Nearly  all  these  questions,  as  had  been  expected,  and,  indeed, 
commonly  requested  by  the  mover,  were  carried  for  solution 
to  the  master ;  who,  too  often,  was  compelled  to  resort  to 
some  pitiful  evasion  to  hide  his  inability  to  furnish  the 
required  answer.  And  the  same  questions,  also,  besides 
being  agitated  in  the  schools  into  which  they  were  first 
introduced,  were  often  communicated  to  other  schools,  and 
thus  became  a  source  of  trouble  to  other  masters  ;  so  that,  in 
this  way,  there  was  scarcely  a  teacher,  anywhere  in  the 
vicinity,  who  had  not  experienced  the  inconvenience  of 
Locke's  scholarship  and  inquiring  disposition;  and  most  of 
them,  though  they  prudently  kept  the  fact  to  themselves, 
fairly  wished  him  out  of  the  country,  and  secretly  resolved 
never  to  be  caught  engaging  to  instruct  any  school  where  he 
should  be  a  pupil.  It  appeared,  therefore,  that  the  failure 
of  the  committee,  before  mentioned,  was  occasioned,  not  by 
there  being  bad  scholars  in  the  school,  bat  good  ones  ;  or 
rather  one,  whose  aptitude  and  acquirements  had  made  him 
so  much  the  dread  of  the  schoolmasters,  with  whom  the 
country  then  happened  to  be  favored,  as  effectually  to  keep 
them  out  of  the  district. 

The  disappointment  thus  occasioned  the  district,  however, 
as  vexatious  as  it  was  to  Locke  at  the  time,  was,  like  many 
other  disappointments  in  life,  of  which  we  are  Avont  to  com 
plain,  destined,  in  a  short  time,  to  prove  a  blessing,  not  only 
to  him,  but  to  the  whole  school.  For,  in  a  few  weeks,  an 
unforeseen  occurrence  brought  them  an  instructor  well  quali 
fied  for  his  task.  This  was  a  senior  collegian,  who  had 
returned  to  spend  his  last  vacation  at  his  father's  residence, 
in  a  neighboring  town ;  and  who,  on  accidentally  learning 
that  the  district  in  question  had  been  unable  to  supply  them- 


40  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

selves  with  a  teacher,  from  the  suspected  causes  we  have 
named,  was  thereby  induced  to  send  them  word  he  would 
come  and  instruct  their  school,  if  they  would  give  him  a 
dollar  per  day  and  board.  To  be  sure,  the  very  unusual  price 
demanded  by  the  young  man,  threatened,  for  some  days,  to 
prove  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  engaging  him.  The 
sum  asked,  contended  the  committee,  was  outrageous,  unheard 
of,  and  it  was  out  of  all  question  that  they  should  give  it. 
But  all  the  larger  boys  and  girls  clamored ;  Locke  election 
eered  as  if  life  and  death  hung  on  the  event ;  and  his  mother, 
whose  influence  was  generally  felt  in  the  neighborhood,  when 
she  chose  to  exert  it,  went  round  to  see  other  mothers,  who, 
being  either  convinced  by  her  arguments  in  favor  of  the 
cause  she  had  espoused,  or  tired  of  having  their  noisy  chil 
dren  any  longer  at  home,  beset  their  husbands  to  beset  the 
committee  ;  and  the  result  was,  that  the  committee,  unable 
to  stem  the  current  thus  brought  to  bear  against  them,  started 
off,  and  engaged  the  young  gentleman,  whose  name  was 
Seaver,  at  his  own  price.  The  next  Monday  morning,  to 
the  great  joy  of  Locke,  he  appeared  on  the  ground,  and 
commenced  the  duties  of  his  school. 

We  have  said  that  Mr.  Seaver,  the  instructor  now  em 
ployed,  was  well  qualified  for  the  task  he  had  undertaken  ; 
and  in  so  saying,  we  meant  much  more  than  what  extensive 
attainments  in  science  and  literature,  merely,  would  necessa 
rily  imply.  He  possessed  science,  indeed,  to  an  eminent 
degree  ;  but  as  is  too  rarely  the  case,  especially  with  those 
fresh  from  the  schools,  he  possessed  it  without  any  of  that 
learned  quackery  of  technical  terms  and  unusual  words, 
which  is  so  often  made  to  shut  out  knowledge  from  the 
common  mind  as  effectually  as  the  monastic  walls  of  the  dark 
ages.  His  language,  indeed,  on  whatever  subject  employed, 
though  the  most  abstruse  to  be  found  in  the  books,  was  as 
simple  as  that  of  childhood  itself ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  41 

he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  putting  the  minds  of  all  he 
addressed,  even  to  the  youngest  and  weakest,  at  once  into 
the  full  possession  of  his  ideas.  This,  with  a  good  under 
standing  of  human  nature,  —  and  of  human  nature,  par 
ticularly,  as  developed  in  the  philosophy  of  the  young  head 
and  the  young  heart,  to  enable  him  to  know  how,  when, 
and  where  to  interest,  incite,  check,  and  control,  —  together 
with  a  temperament  of  his  own,  and  a  general  discrimination 
to  insure  a  judicious  application  of  his  other  faculties,  com 
bined  to  make  him  that  invaluable  acquisition  to  society  —  a 
good  schoolmaster ;  one  who,  if  adequately  rewarded,  would 
do  his  part  in  throwing  the  full  light  of  science,  within 
the  gliding  years  of  half  a  generation,  over  the  mind  of  a 
nation. 

The  instruction  of  a  teacher  of  the  character  we  have 
just  described,  was  a  new  thing  to  Locke  Amsden.  And  it 
is  needless  for  us  to  say,  perhaps,  how  the  advantages  thus 
furnished  him  were  improved.  The  first  week  he  spent  in 
looking  up,  and  obtaining  from  his  teacher,  explanations 
and  illustrations  of  all  the  knotty  points  which  he  had  left 
unmastered  in  his  course  of  mathematics.  When  all  these 
were  clearly  understood  and  familiarized  to  his  mind,  he 
commenced,  in  good  earnest,  his  onward  progress.  Day  and 
night,  almost  unceasingly,  applying  every  energy  of  his 
mind,  he  soon  finished  what  remained  yet  to  be  studied  of 
the  ordinary  course  of  mathematics,  and  thence  passed  on 
into  and  through  physics,  or  natural  philosophy,  astronomy, 
and  even  a  considerable  portion  of  fluxions,  with  a  rapidity 
and  comprehension  of  what  he  passed  over,  which  perfectly 
astonished  his  instructor ;  who,  unwilling  to  check  him  in  a 
career  where  he  was  accomplishing  so  much  which  was 
important,  and  which  is  so  often  neglected  after  the  pupil  is 
put  upon  more  seductive  studies,  had  thus  far  suffered  him 
to  bestow  nearly  his  undivided  attention  to  the  branches  we 
4* 


42  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OTJ 

have  enumerated.  But  as  the  school  drew  to  a  close,  that 
instructor  began  to  direct  the  attention  of  his  favorite  scholar 
to  studies  which  had  never,  or  not  so  particularly,  occupied 
his  mind.  After  a  course  of  delicate  questioning,  calcu 
lated,  with  one  of  his  turn,  to  make  him  keenly  feel  his  own 
ignorance,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  furnish  incentives  to 
action,  the  former  opened  to  the  wondering  and  longing  view 
of  the  latter  the  necessity  and  advantage  of  exploring  other 
departments  in  the  wide  field  of  learning.  And,  fired  with 
new  zeal  at  the  prospect,  our  young  aspirant,  as  he  was  thus 
made  to  see  before  him 

"  Alps  on  Alps  arise," 

now  became  doubly  ambitious  to  mount  their  glittering 
steeps.  But  the  close  of  the  school,  which  was  now  at  hand, 
precluded  all  opportunity,  for  the  present  at  least,  of  entering 
upon  this  glorious  field  of  exertion  ;  and,  with  peculiar  regret 
and  sorrow,  he  was  compelled  to  bid  adieu  to  his  beloved 
instructor,  relinquish  study,  and  -return  to  the  labors  of  the 
farm. 

After  the  termination  of  this  school,  Locke  found  himself 
in  a  different  situation  from  what  he  had  ever  been  in  before, 
at  least,  since  he  had  begun  the  work  of  self-education.  The 
books  which  had  been  presented  him  by  the  kind  strangers  — • 
around  whose  fondly-remembered  images,  fancy,  as  he  grew 
older,  was  daily  throwing  a  more  romantic  interest  —  had  all 
been  studied,  and  their  contents  mastered  ;  and,  as  he  was 
unable  to  procure  others  upon  those  branches  which  he  next 
wished  to  peruse,  he  now  found  himself  without  any  food 
for  his  hungering  mind,  or  at  least  such  as  would  satisfy  a 
mind  like  his,  whose  desires,  instead  of  being  appeased,  were 
now  tenfold  increased.  And  from  this  state  of  unsatisfied 
longings,  without  employment  for  his  mental  energies  in  the 
present,  and  without  hope  to  encourage  him  to  look  forward 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  43 

with  certainty  to  any  period  when  his  inclinations  could  be 
gratified  in  the  future,  fancy  began  to  obtrude  her  illusive 
creations  into  those  chambers  of  thought  which  before  had 
been  devoted  to  the  operations  of  reason.  He  became 
absent,  moody,  and  despondent,  and  was  fast  falling  a  prey  to 
a  morbid  imagination  —  a  malady  than  which,  for  strong  and 
sensitive  minds,  nothing  scarcely  is  more  to  be  dreaded ;  for 

"  Woe  to  the  youth  whom  Fancy  gains, 
Winning  from  Keason's  hands  the  reins  ; 
Pity  and  woe  for  such  a  mind 
Is  soft,  contemplative,  and  kind." 

In  vain  did  his  father  attempt  to  rouse  him  from  his  almost 
continual  reverie  —  in  vain  attempt  to  repress  those  secret 
desires  which  he  well  knew  to  be  the  leading  cause  of  his 
abstraction,  and  awaken  an  interest  for  business.  But  he 
little  understood  the  nature  of  the  mind  he  attempted  to 
control ;  for  as  well  may  we  attempt  to  chain  the  lightnings 
of  heaven,  as  the  soul  really  thirsting  after  knowledge.  Such 
a  mind  may  be  thwarted,  chilled,  ruined ;  but  it  can  never  be 
so  far  restrained  as  to  be  moulded  to  other  purposes,  at  least 
till  opportunity  be  allowed  for  its  ruling  desires  to  become, 
in  some  good  degree,  sated.  The  father,  wholly  failing,  at 
length  gave  up  the  attempt  in  vexation  and  despair ;  but 
another,  who  better  understood  the  nature  of  the  mind  thus 
diseased,  and  the  only  remedies  which  could  effect  its  cure, 
no\v  undertook  the  task,  and  was  successful. 

One  evening,  as  Locke  sat  alone  in  an  open  window, 
vacantly,  and  in  moody  thoughtfulness,  gazing  out  at  the 
rising  moon,  or  the  stars  that  were  fading  in  her  over 
powering  beams,  his  mother  gently  approached,  and  took  a 
seat  by  his  side. 

"  Locke,"  said  she,  in  kind  and  gentle  tones,  after  sitting  a 
moment  without  appearing  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 


44  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OH 

other,  "  Locke,  your  father  complains  that  you  are  unusually 
inattentive  to  business,  this  summer." 

"  Complains  ?  Well,  he  is  always  complaining  of  me  —  / 
can  do  nothing  right ;  but  brother  Benjamin  —  he  can  do 
nothing  wrong." 

"  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  you  may  sometimes  get  more 
censure  than  you  should,  and  your  brother  more  praise  than 
he  deserves,  in  the  contrast  which  one  of  your  father's  turn 
would  naturally  draw  between  you.  But  still,  Locke,  I  fear 
you  have  given  too  much  cause  for  these  complaints.  I  have 
myself  often  noted  your  neglect  and  heedlessncss  ;  and  I 
now  put  it  to  your  own  conscience,  my  son,  whether  such  a 
course  is  right,  —  is  justifiable,  in  you  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  may  sometimes  do  wrong,  in  these  respects, 
though  it  is  not  because  I  am  unwilling  to  work  —  to  do 
right.  But  you  know  how  anxious  I  am  to  study,  and  may 
be,  I  think  too  much  about  that,  to  be  as  quick  and  ready  as 
some.  Still,  I  cannot  help  it ;  I  have  almost  every  thing 
yet  to  learn,  and  I  must  know,  O  mother,  I  must  know  !  " 

"  I  see,  Locke,  that  your  whole  heart  is  set  on  being  a 
great  scholar.  But  scholarship  alone,  my  son,  will  never 
make  you  truly  great  or  happy.  It  is  not  the  one  thing 
needful ;  it  brings  not  the  pearl  of  great  price.  It  may, 
indeed,  bring  you,  as  I  once  read  in  the  works  of  some  poet, 

"  The  world's  applause,  perhaps  the  prince's  smile, 
And  flattery's  pois'nous  potions,  smooth  as  oil ; 
The  poet's  laurel,  or  the  victor's  palm  ; 
But  not  one  drop  of  Gilead's  precious  balm." 

"  I  have  often  heard  you  speak  of  religion,  mother,  and  I 
have  never  denied  its  importance  ;  but  I  have  never  before 
heard  you  speak  in  this  manner  of  learning.  You  surely  do 
not  hold  it  so  lightly  as  one  might  think  from  what  you  have 
just  said,  do  you  ?  " 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  45 

"  I  hold  it  lightly  only,  my  son,  when  compared  with  the 
things  of  heaven.  It  would  be  my  highest  ambition  to  see 
you,  as  you  enter  life,  a  religious  and  an  educated  man." 

"  Why,  then,  mother,  are  you  not  willing  I  should  be 
allowed  an  opportunity  to  obtain  an  education  ?  " 

"  I  am,  Locke  —  I  am  willing  —  even  desirous  ;  but  such 
an  education  as  I  fear  our  means  would  be  sufficient  to  afford 
you,  would  not,  I  suppose,  satisfy  you.  And  yet,  seeing 
how  much  your  mind  is  set  upon  it,  I  have  lately  been 
thinking,  that  something  might,  and  perhaps  should  now,  be 
done  for  you.  If  a  year  to  a  good  academy  would  serve 
your  purpose " 

"  A  whole  year,  mother  !  " 

«  Yes." 

"  Oh !  if  I  could  go  a  whole  year !  But  father  would 
never  consent  to  it." 

"  Judge  not  too  hastily,  Locke  ;  perhaps  he  will  consent 
to  it.  Your  brother  has  grown  to  a  lusty  and  active  boy, 
and  you  might  now  be  much  better  spared  ;  that  is,  after  the 
present  work-season  is  over.  And  that  is  as  soon  as  I  shall 
be  able  to  fit  you  out  with  the  necessary  clothing.  But 
suppose,  Locke,  I  should  try  to  intercede  with  your  father 
for  you,  would  you  take  hold  of  business  as  you  ought,  till 
after  harvesting  ?  " 

"  I  would  try,  mother ;  and  if  you  will  bring  father  to  the 
promise,  I  think  —  indeed,  I  know  —  that  neither  he  or  you 
shall  have  reason  to  complain  of  me  any  more." 

"  Well,  then,  my  son,  go  to  your  rest  now,  and  get  up  in 
the  morning  with  a  cheerful  look,  and  go  to  your  business 
like  a  man  with  his  senses  about  him ;  and,  within  a  few  days, 
we  will  see  what  can  be  done." 

Locke  did  as  his  mother  had  advised ;  and,  two  days  after 
wards,  his  father  made  the  glad  announcement  of  the  permis- 


46  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

sion  which  his  mother  had  encouraged  him  to  hope  would  be 
granted  him. 

From  that  day,  Locke  was  a  new  creature.  As  happy  as 
the  lark,  with  which  he  rose  in  the  morning,  he  cheerfully 
and  diligently  toiled  through  the  day ;  giving  his  undivided 
attention  to  any  and  every  kind  of  work  upon  which  he  was 
requested  to  engage.  So  complete  a  revolution  in  the  busi 
ness  character  of  his  son  was  the  cause  of  much  wonder  to 
Mr.  Amsden,  Avho  had  predicted,  that  the  permission  he  had 
given  him  to  go  abroad  to  school  in  the  fall,  instead  of 
diminishing,  would  so  increase  the  faults  of  which  he  com 
plained,  as  entirely  to  spoil  him  for  business  ;  little  dreaming, 
that  his  own  conduct,  in  trying  to  repress  his  son's  over 
powering  inclinations  for  study,  had  more  than  all  else 
contributed  to  bring  him  into  that  state  of  mental  abstraction 
and  despondency,  from  which,  through  his  mother's  influ 
ence,  he  had  been  so  timely  rescued,  by  the  only  means, 
probably,  that  could  ever  have  proved  availing. 

In  this  manner  passed  away  the  summer  season  ;  and  the 
happy  period,  which  was  to  reward  Locke  for  his  toils,  at 
length  approached.  As  the  time  drew  near,  Mr.  Amsden, 
although  his  strict  regard  for  his  word  forbade  all  thought  of 
breaking  his  promise  to  his  son,  began,  nevertheless,  to  feel 
a  great  reluctance  at  parting  with  him.  And  when  he 
thought  of  the  efficient  help  which  the  boy  had  rendered  him 
through  most  of  the  season,  at  which  he  had  been  both  grati 
fied  and  profited,  he  could  not  forbear,  by  various  favorable 
offers,  to  try  to  tempt  the  other  to  remain.  It  was,  however, 
all  in  vain  ;  for  Locke,  steady  to  his  unalterable  purpose, 
would  listen  to  nothing  short  of  the  promised  year's  opportu 
nity  for  study.  And  when  the  day  fixed  for  his  departure 
arrived,  he  packed  up  his  books  and  scanty  wardrobe,  and, 
bidding  the  family  adieu,  set  out  on  foot,  with  a  light  heart, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  47 

for  the  village  where  the  academy  at  which  he  proposed  to 
pursue  his  studies  was  located.  A  little  more  than  a  day's 
walk  brought  him  to  his  destination,  when,  to  his  great  joy, 
he  found  the  institution  under  the  charge  of  his  old  teacher, 
Seaver,  who,  a  month  or  two  previous,  at  the  close  of  his 
collegiate  career,  had  been  engaged  as  a  permanent  pre 
ceptor. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  follow  our  hero  in  his  course  of 
studies  through  the  year  that  now  succeeded.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that,  by  the  advice  of  his  preceptor,  he  devoted  his  time 
chiefly  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages, 
reserving,  however,  certain  hours  of  the  day,  and  such  times 
as  others  generally  spent  in  recreations,  to  the  study  of  his 
own  language,  and  such  of  the  higher  branches  of  English 
education  as  he  had  never  had  an  opportunity  of  acquiring. 
Having,  in  his  previous  course  of  self-education,  been  accus 
tomed  to  depend  almost  wholly  on  his  own  energies  for  the 
successful  prosecution  of  his  studies,  he  relaxed  nothing  from 
his  mental  habits  here  ;  and  the  result  was,  as  it  will  ever  be 
with  those  who  do  the  like,  that  although  he  consulted  his 
teacher,  perhaps,  less  than  any  one  in  school,  he  yet  out 
stripped  them  all  in  the  rapidity  of  his  progress.  And  as  he 
was  about  to  leave  the  institution,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving  from  his  venerated  instructor 
the  flattering  encomium,  that  he  had  never  known  so  great 
an  amount  of  knowledge  acquired  by  any  individual  in  so 
short  a  period. 

After  the  close  of  his  year  at  the  academy,  young  Amsden, 
who  had  now  shot  up  into  the  usual  proportions  of  manhood, 
returned  to  his  father's  with  the  intention  of  commencing  a 
vocation  to  which  he  had  long  looked  forward  with  pleasing 
solicitude  —  that  of  imparting  to  others  the  knowledge  which 
had  afforded  him  so  much  happiness  in  acquiring :  For, 


48  LOCKE    AMSDEN. 

from  his  childhood  upward,  he  had  heard  no  one  employment 
so  much  lauded  for  honor  and  usefulness,  as  that  of  an 
instructor  of  youth ;  he  had  seen  the  same  idea  reiterated 
by  the  most  celebrated  of  authors ;  and  he  had  not  yet  learned, 
that  the  world  too  often  applaud  most  what  their  practice 
shows  they  hold  in  the  least  estimation. 


CHAPTER    III. 

"  The  little  knowledge  he  had  gain'd, 
"Was  all  from  simple  nature  drain'd." 

GAY. 

IT  was  late  in  the  season  when  our  hero  returned  home  ; 
and  having  inadvertently  omitted  to  apprise  his  friends  of  his 
intention  to  engage  himself  as  a  teacher  of  some  of  the 
winter  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  his  father's  residence,  he 
found,  on  his  arrival,  every  situation  to  which  his  undoubted 
qualifications  should  prompt  him  to  aspire,  already  occu 
pied  by  others.  He  was  therefore  compelled,  unless  he 
relinquished  his  purpose,  to  listen  to  the  less  eligible  offers 
which  came  from  such  smaller  and  more  backward  districts 
or  societies  as  had  not  engaged  their  instructors  for  the  win 
ter.  One  of  these  he  was  on  the  point  of  deciding  to  accept, 
when  he  received  information  of  a  district  where  the  master, 
from  some  cause  or  other,  had  been  dismissed  during  the  first 
week  of  his  engagement,  and  where  the  committee  were  now 
in  search  of  another  to  supply  his  place.  The  district  from 
which  this  information  came,  was  situated  in  one  of  the 
mountain  towns  about  a  dozen  miles  distant,  and  the  partic 
ular  neighborhood  of  its  location  was  known  in  the  vicinity,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  by  the  name  of  the  Horn  of  the  Moon ; 
an  appellation  generally  understood  to  be  derived  from  a  pecif- 
liar  curvature  of  a  mountain  that  partially  enclosed  the  place. 
Knowing  nothing  of  the  causes  which  had  here  led  to  the 
recent  dismissal  of  the  teacher,  nor  indeed  of  the  particular 
character  of  the  school,  further  than  that  it  was  a  large  one, 
and  one,  probably,  which,  though  in  rather  a  new  part  of  the 
5 


50  LOCKE    AM8DEX,    OR 

country,  would  yet  furnish  something  like  an  adequate  remu 
neration  to  a  good  instructor,  Locke  had  no  hesitation  in 
deciding  to  make  an  immediate  application  for  the  situation. 
Accordingly,  the  next  morning  he  mounted  a  horse,  and  set 
out  for  the  place  in  question. 

It  was  a  mild  December's  day  ;  the  ground  had  not  yet 
assumed  its  winter  covering,  and  the  route  taken  by  our  hero 
becoming  soon  bordered  on  either  side  by  wild  and  pictu 
resque  mountain  scenery,  upon  which  he  had  ever  delighted 

"  To  look  from  nature  up  to  nature's  God," 

the  excursion  in  going  was  a  pleasant  one.  And  occupied 
by  the  reflections  thus  occasioned,  together  with  anticipations 
of  happy  results  from  his  expected  engagement,  he  arrived, 
after  a  ride  of  a  few  hours,  at  the  borders  of  the  romantic- 
looking  place  of  which  he  was  in  quest. 

At  this  point  in  his  journey,  he  overtook  a  man  on  foot,  of 
whom,  after  discovering  him  to  belong  somewhere  in  the 
neighborhood;  he  proceeded  to  make  some  inquiries  relative 
to  the  situation  of  the  school. 

"  Why,"  replied  the  man,  "  as  I  live  out  there  in  the  tip 
of  the  Horn,  which  is,  of  course,  at  the  outer  edge  of  the 
district,  I  know  but  little  about  the  school  affairs  ;  but  one 
thing  is  certain,  they  have  shipped  the  master,  and  want  to 
get  another,  I  suppose." 

"  For  what  cause  was  the  master  dismissed  ?  For  lack  of 
qualifications  ?  " 

"  Yes,  lack  of  qualifications  for  our  district.  The  fellow, 
however,  had  learning  enough,  as  all  agreed,  but  no  spunk  ; 
and  the  young  Bunkers,  and  some  others  of  the  big  boys, 
mistrusting  this,  and  being  a  little  riled  at  some  things  he 
had  said  to  them,  took  it  into  their  heads  to  train  him  a 
little,  which  they  did  ;  when  he,  instead  of  showing  any  grit 
on  the  occasion,  got  frightened  and  cleared  out." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  51 

"  Why,  sir,  did  his  scholars  offer  him  personal  violence  ?  " 

"  O  no  —  not  violence.  They  took  him  up  quite  carefully, 
bound  him  on  to  a  plank,  as  I  understood,  and  carried  him  on 
their  shoulders,  in  a  sort  of  procession,  three  times  around 
the  schoolhouse,  and  then,  unloosing  him,  told  him  to  go  at 
his  business  again." 

"  And  was  all  this  suffered  to  take  place  without  any  inter 
ference  from  your  committee  ?  " 

"  Yes,  our  committee-man  would  not  interfere  in  such  a 
case.  A  master  must  fight  his  own  way  in  our  district." 

"  Who  is  your  committee,  sir  ?  " 

"  Captain  Bill  Bunker  is  now.  They  had  a  meeting  after 
the  fracas,  and  chose  a  new  one." 

"  Is  he  a  man  who  is  capable  of  ascertaining  for  himself 
the  qualifications  of  a  teacher  ?  " 

"  0  yes  —  at  least  I  had  as  lief  have  Bill  Bunker's  judg 
ment  of  a  man  who  applied  for  the  school  as  any  other  in 
the  district ;  and  yet  he  is  the  only  man  in  the  whole  district 
but  what  can  read  and  write,  I  believe." 

"  Your  school  committee  not  able  to  read  and  write  ?  " 

"  Not  a  word,  and  still  he  does  more  business  than  any 
man  in  this  neighborhood.  Why,  sir,  he  keeps  a  sort  of 
store,  sells  to  A.,  B.,  and  C.,  and  charges  on  book  in  a  fashion 
of  his  own  ;  and  I  would  as  soon  trust  to  his  book  as  that  of 
any  regular  merchant  in  the  country  ;  though,  to  be  sure,  he 
has  got  into  a  jumble,  I  hear,  about  some  charges  against  a 
man  at  'tother  end  of  the  Horn,  and  they  are  having  a  court 
about  it  to-day  at  Bunker's  house,  I  understand." 

«  Where  does  he  live  ?  " 

"  Right  on  the  road,  about  a  mile  ahead.  You  will  see  his 
name  chalked  on  a  sort  of  a  shop-looking  building,  which  he 
uses  for  a  store." 

The  man  here  turned  off  from  the  road,  leaving  our  hero 
so  much  surprised  and  staggered  at  what  he  had  just  heard, 


52  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

not  only  of  the  general  character  of  the  school  of  which  he 
had  come  to  propose  himself  as  a  teacher,  but  of  the  man 
who  now  had  the  control  of  it,  that  he  drew  up  the  reins, 
stopped  his  horse  in  the  road,  and  sat  hesitating  some  mo 
ments  whether  he  would  go  back  or  forward.  It  occurring 
to  him,  however,  that  he  could  do  as  he  liked  about  accepting 
any  offer  of  the  place  which  might  be  made  him,  and  feeling, 
moreover,  some  curiosity  to  see  how  a  man  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write  would  manage  in  capacity  of  an  examining 
school  committee,  he  resolved  to  go  forward,  and  present 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  school.  Accordingly,  he  rode 
on,  and  soon  reached  a  rough-built,  but  substantial-looking 
farm-house,  with  sundry  out-buildings,  on  one  of  which  he 
read,  as  he  had  been  told  he  might,  the  name  of  the  singular 
occupant.  In  the  last-named  building,  he  at  once  perceived 
that  there  was  a  gathering  of  quite  a  number  of  individuals, 
the  nature  of  which  was  explained  to  him  by  the  hint  he  had 
received  from  his  informant  on  the  road.  And  tying  his 
horse,  he  joined  several  who  were  going  in,  and  soon  found 
himself  in  the  midst  of  the  company  assembled  in  the  low, 
unfinished  room  which  constituted  the  interior,  as  parties, 
witnesses,  and  spectators  of  a  justice's  court,  the  ceremonies 
of  which  were  about  to  be  commenced.  There  were  no 
counters,  counting-room,  or  desk ;  and  a  few  broad  shelves, 
clumsily  put  up  on  one  side,  afforded  the  only  indication, 
observable  in  the  interior  arrangement  of  the  room,  of  the 
use  to  which  it  was  devoted.  On  these  shelves  were  scat 
tered,  at  intervals,  small  bunches  of  hoes,  axes,  bed-cords, 
and  such  articles  as  are  generally  purchased  by  those  who 
purchase  little ;  while  casks  of  nails,  grindstones,  quintals  of 
dried  salt  fish,  and  the  like,  arranged  round  the  room  on  the 
floor,  made  up  the  rest  of  the  owner's  merchandise,  an 
annual  supply  of  which,  it  appeared,  he  obtained  in  the  cities 
every  winter  in  exchange  for  the  products  of  his  farm ;  ever 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  53 

careful,  like  a  good  political  economist,  that  the  balance  of 
trade  should  not  be  against  him.  The  only  table  and  chair 
in  the  room  were  now  occupied  by  the  justice ;  the  heads  of 
casks,  grindstones,  or  bunches  of  rakes,  answering  for  seats 
for  the  rest  of  the  company.  On  the  left  of  the  justice  sat 
the  defendant,  whose  composed  look,  and  occasional  knowing 
smile,  seemed  to  indicate  his  confidence  in  the  strength  of 
his  defence,  as  well  as  a  consciousness  of  possessing  some 
secret  advantage  over  his  opponent.  On  the  other  hand  sat 
Bunker,  the  plaintiff  in  the  suit.  Ascertaining  from  the 
remarks  of  the  bystanders  his  identity  with  the  committee- 
man  he  had  become  so  curious  to  see,  Locke  fell  to  noting 
his  appearance  closely,  and  the  result  was,  upon  the  whole,  a 
highly  favorable  prepossession.  He  was  a  remarkably  stout, 
hardy-looking  man  ;  and  although  his  features  were  extremely 
rough  and  swarthy,  they  yet  combined  to  give  him  an  open, 
honest,  and  very  intelligent  countenance.  Behind  him,  as 
backers,  were  standing  in  a  group  three  or  four  of  his  sons, 
of  ages  varying  from  fifteen  to  twenty,  and  of  bodily  propor 
tions  promising  any  thing  but  disparagement  to  the  Herculean 
stock  from  which  they  originated.  The  parties  were  now 
called  and  sworn  ;  when  Bunker,  there  being  no  attorneys 
employed  to  make  two-hour  speeches  on  preliminary  ques 
tions,  proceeded  at  once  to  the  merits  of  his  case.  He 
produced  and  spread  open  his  account-book,  and  then  went 
on  to  show  his  manner  of  charging,  which  was  wholly  by 
hieroglyphics,  generally  designating  the  debtor  by  picturing 
him  out  at  the  top  of  the  page  with  some  peculiarity  of  his 
person  or  calling.  In  the  present  case,  the  debtor,  who  was 
a  cooper,  was  designated  by  the  rude  picture  of  a  man  in  the 
act  of  hooping  a  barrel ;  and  the  article  charged,  there  being 
but  one  item  in  the  account,  was  placed  immediately  beneath, 
and  represented  by  a  shaded,  circular  figure,  which  the  plain- 
5* 


54  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

tiff  said  was  intended  for  a  cheese,  that  had  been  sold  to  the 
defendant  some  years  before. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Justice,"  said  Bunker,  after  explaining,  in  a 
direct,  off-hand  manner,  his  peculiar  method  of  book-keeping, 
"  now,  the  article  here  charged  the  man  had  —  I  will,  and  do 
swear  to  it ;  for  here  it  is  in  black  and  white.  And  I  having 
demanded  my  pay,  and  he  having  not  only  refused  it,  but 
denied  ever  buying  the  article  in  question,  I  have  brought 
this  suit  to  recover  my  just  due.  And  now  I  wish  to  see  if 
he  will  get  up  here  in  court,  and  deny  the  charge  under  oath. 
If  he  will,  let  him ;  but  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  his 
soul ! " 

"  Well,  sir,"  replied  the  defendant,  promptly  rising,  "  you 
shall  not  be  kept  from  having  your  wish  a  minute  ;  for  I 
here,  under  oath,  do  swear,  that  I  never  bought  or  had  a 
cheese  of  you  in  my  life." 

"  Under  the  oath  of  God  you  declare  it,  do  you  ?  "  sharply- 
asked  Bunker. 

"  I  do,  sir,"  firmly  answered  the  other. 

"  Well,  well !  "  exclaimed  the  former,  with  looks  of  utter 
astonishment,  "  I  would  not  have  believed  that  there  was  a 
man  in  all  of  the  Horn  of  the  Moon  who  would  dare  to  do 
that," 

After  the  parties  had  been  indulged  in  the  usual  amount 
of  sparring  for  such  occasions,  the  justice  interposed  and 
suggested,  that  as  the  oaths  of  the  parties  were  at  complete 
issue,  the  evidence  of  the  book  itself,  which  he  seemed  to 
think  was  entitled  to  credit,  would  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of 
the  plaintiff,  unless  the  defendant  could  produce  some  rebut 
ting  testimony.  Upon  this  hint,  the  latter  called  up  two  of  his 
neighbors,  who  testified  in  his  behalf,  that  he  himself  always 
made  a  sufficient  supply  of  cheese  for  his  family ;  and 
they  were  further  knowing,  that,  on  the  year  of  the  alleged 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  55 

purchase,  instead  of  buying,  he  actually  sold  a  considerable 
quantity  of  the  article. 

This  evidence  seemed  to  settle  the  question  in  the  mind  of 
the  justice  5  and  he  now  soon  announced,  that  he  felt  bound 
to  give  judgment  to  the  defendant  for  his  costs. 

"  Judged  and  sworn  out  of  the  whole  of  it,  as  I  am  a  sin 
ner  !  "  cried  the  disconcerted  Bunker,  after  sitting  a  moment 
working  his  rough  features  in  indignant  surprise  ;  "  yes, 
fairly  sworn  out  of  it,  and  saddled  with  a  bill  of  cost  to  boot ! 
But  I  can  pay  it ;  so  reckon  it  up,  Mr.  Justice,  and  we  will 
have  it  all  squared  on  the  spot.  And,  on  the  whole,  I  am 
not  so  sure  but  a  dollar  or  two  is  well  spent,  at  any  tim<? 
finding  out  a  fellow  to  be  a  scoundrel  who  has  been  f  9 
himself  off  among  people  for  an  honest  man/'  he  „<*, 
pulling  out  his  purse,  and  angrily  dashing  the  .  quired 
amount  down  upon  the  table. 

"  Now,  Bill  Bunker,"  said  the  defendant,  after  very  coolly 
pocketing  his  costs,  "  you  have  flung  out  a  good  deal  of  your 
stuff  here,  and  I  have  bore  it  without  getting  riled  a  hair ; 
for  I  saw,  all  the  time,  that  you  —  correct  as  folks  ginerally 
think  you  —  that  you  did  n't  know  what  you  was  about.  But 
now  it 's  all  fixed  and  settled,  I  am  going  jist  to  convince  you 
that  I  am  not  quite  the  one  that  has  sworn  to  a  perjury  in 
this  'ere  business." 

"  Well,  we  will  see,"  rejoined  Bunker,  eying  his  opponent 
with  a  look  of  mingled  doubt  and  defiance. 

"  Yes,  we  will  see,"  responded  the  other,  determinedly ; 
"  we  will  see  if  we  can't  make  you  eat  your  own  words. 
But  I  want  first  to  tell  you  where  you  missed  it.  When  you 
dunned  me,  Bunker,  for  the  pay  for  a  cheese,  and  I  said  I 
never  had  one  of  you,  you  went  off  a  little  too  quick ;  you 
called  me  a  liar,  before  giving  me  a  chance  to  say  another 
word.  And  then,  I  thought  I  would  let  you  take  your  own 
course,  till  you  took  that  name  back.  If  you  had  held  on  a 


56  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

minute,  without  breaking  out  so  upon  me,  I  should  have  told 
you  all  how  it  was,  and  you  would  have  got  your  pay  on  the 
spot ;  but  — 

"  Pay  !  "  fiercely  interrupted  Bunker,  "  then  you  admit 
you  had  the  cheese,  do  you  ?  " 

"No,  sir,  I  admit  no  sich  thing,"  quickly  rejoined  the 
former ;  "  for  I  still  say  I  never  had  a  cheese  of  you  in  the 
world.  But  I  did  have  a  small  grindstone  of  you  at  the 
time,  and  at  jest  the  price  you  have  charged  for  your  sup 
posed  cheese  ;  and  here  is  your  money  for  it,  sir.  Now, 
Bunker,  what  do  you  say  to  that  ?  " 

"  Grindstone  —  cheese  —  cheese  —  grindstone ! "  exclaimed 
the  now  evidently  nonplussed  and  doubtful  Bunker,  taking  a 
few  rapid  turns  about  the  room,  and  occasionally  stopping  at 
the  table  to  scrutinize  anew  his  hieroglyphical  charge  ;  "  I 
must  think  this  matter  over  again.  Grindstone  —  cheese  — 
cheese  —  grindstone.  Ah  !  I  have  it ;  but  may  God  forgive 
me  for  what  I  have  done  !  It  was  a  grindstone,  but  I  forgot 
to  make  a  hole  in  the  middle  for  the  crank." 

Upon  this  curious  development,  as  will  be  readily  imag 
ined,  the  opposing  parties  were  not  long  in  effecting  an 
amicable  and  satisfactory  adjustment.  And,  in  a  short  time, 
the  company  broke  up  and  departed,  all  obviously  as  much 
gratified  as  amused  at  this  singular  but  happy  result  of  the 
lawsuit. 

As  soon  as  all  had  left  the  room  but  Bunker  and  his  sons, 
Locke,  perceiving  that  the  others  now  seemed  to  expect  an 
announcement  of  his  business,  at  once  proceeded  to  make 
known  the  object  of  his  visit. 

"  Ah,  indeed  !  "  said  Bunker,  in  surprise,  as  he  keenly  ran 
his  eye  over  the  rather  slight  proportions  of  the  other. 
"  Why,  I  had  supposed,  all  the  while,  that  you  were  some 
young  sprig  of  the  law,  who  had  scented  out  our  foolish  little 
quarrel  here  from  a  distance,  and  had  come  to  see  whether 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  57 

the  court,  like  the  monkey  judge  in  the  fable,  would  work  up 
all  the  cheese  himself,  or  leave  enough  to  afford  a  nibble  to  a 
lawyer.  But  have  you  really  come  to  offer  yourself  as  a 
master  for  such  a  school  as  ours  ?  " 

"  I  came  for  that  purpose,  sir,"  replied  Locke  ;  "  and  I 
trust  to  be  found  qualified  for  the  situation.  I  have  brought 
with  me  a  certificate  of  qualifications  ;  and  further,  I  am 
very  willing  to  be  examined  personally  by  yourself  and 
others." 

"  I  have  been  examining  you,  for  some  minutes,  with  my 
eyes,"  said  the  other,  "  and  that  is  a  way  of  examining  mas 
ters,  for  our  school  at  least,  which  is  more  necessary  than 
you  may  imagine.  You  may  have  learning  enough  for  us, 
perhaps  ;  but  the  question  first  to  be  decided  is,  whether  you 
will  be  equal  to  managing  our  rough  boys  in  the  mountains 
here." 

The  two  largest  boys,  who  had  stood  in  a  corner  glancing 
at  the  person  of  our  hero  with  a  sort  of  contemptuous  twink 
ling  of  their  eyes,  now  whispered  together,  and  giggled 
outright,  apparently  at  the  thought  that  such  a  fellow  should 
ever  attempt  to  give  them  a  thrashing  ;  for  they  had  always 
been  so  accustomed  to  associate  schoolmasters  with  thrash 
ings,  that  they  never  thought  of  the  former  without  the 
accompanying  idea  of  the  latter. 

"  Boys,"  resumed  Bunker,  "  do  you  know  what  Josh 
Bemus  intends  doing  this  winter.  I  have  been  thinking,  for 
a  day  or  two  past,  that  he  probably  would  have  about  enough 
of  the  tiger  in  him  to  make  you  a  very  suitable  master,  if  lie 
could  be  had.  You  have  had  king  log,  and  trod  upon  him ; 
and  now,  if  you  don't  get  king  stork,  it  wont  be  because  you 
don't  deserve  it." 

"  You  will  hardly  get  Josh,  I  think,"  replied  one  of  the 
boys.  "  He  told  me,  at  the  turkey-shooting  last  week,  that 
he  had  engaged  to  tend  horses  this  winter  at  the  stage-tavern 


58  LOCKE    AMSDKN,    OR 

down  on  Roaring  River,  because  he  rather  do  it  than  keep 
school." 

"  Well,  every  one  for  his  taste,"  said  Bunker,  laughing. 
"  I  suppose  Josh  is  not  a  fellow  that  would  take  much  pleas 
ure  in  a  thinking  life  ;  though,  as  he  has  succeeded  in  sub 
duing  one  or  two  unruly  schools,  I  had  thought  of  him  for 
ours.  But  as  that  is  now  out  of  the  question,  and  as  I  can 
hear  of  no  other  person  who  will  do,  I  think  we  may  as  well 
examine  into  this  gentleman's  qualifications,  now  he  has 
applied  for  the  school." 

"  I  have  but  little  hope,  sir,  that  I  shall  be  considered  a 
proper  teacher  of  your  district,"  observed  Locke,  who  had 
become  so  much  disconcerted  by  the  ominous  conduct  of  the 
boys,  and  the  remarks  of  their  father  of  a  similar  significance, 
that  he  now  began  to  think  of  beating  a  retreat.  "  I  cannot 
be  the  person  you  want,  I  think,  from  what  I  gather  from 
your  observations  ;  and  therefore  we  may  as  well  drop  the 
subject  at  once,  perhaps." 

"  O,  I  don't  know  about  that,  sir,"  rejoined  Bunker.  "  You 
look  hardly  equal  to  the  task,  be  sure  ;  but  there  is  consider 
able  snap  in  those  black  eyes  of  yours,  I  see.  I  have  seen 
several  fellows,  in  my  time,  of  as  little  bodily  show  as  you, 
who  turned  out  to  be  a  match  for  any  thing  when  called  to 
act.  And  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  you  should  prove  to 
be  one  of  the  same  kidney.  Boys,"  he  continued,  turning  to 
his  sons,  "  you  know  how  sadly  you  all  got  disappointed  in 
that  little,  feeble-looking  master  of  yours  last  winter.  You 
calculated,  when  he  began  his  school,  that  you  should  be  able 
to  control  him  as  you  pleased  ;  but  you  soon  found  you  had 
reckoned  without  your  host,  I  believe." 

"  Well,  he  was  a  mean  scamp,  for  all  that,"  replied  the 
oldest  boy  ;  "  and  we  should  have  shipped  him,  at  one  time, 
if  some  of  the  boys  had  not  flummuxed  from  the  agreement. 
For  he  deserved  it  enough,  and  no  mistake.  Only  think  ! 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  59 

He  made  a  rule,  that  every  one  who  did  not  get  into  the 
school-house  as  soon  as  he  did,  after  our  play-spell  at  noon, 
should  take  a  ferruling.  And  then  what  does  he  do  but  join 
us  in  sliding  down  hill  on  a  hand-sled ;  and  when  we  got 
warm  at  it,  and  just  as  a  great  load  of  us,  he  and  all,  had  got 
under  weigh  and  could  n't  stop,  off  he  jumps,  gives  the  sled 
a  kick,  and  cuts  and  runs  for  the  school-house,  which  he 
reached  first,  of  course ;  and  we  had  to  be  ferruled  for 
breaking  the  rule.  Now,  you  know,  father,  that  was  n't  a 
fair  shake,  and  he  ought  to  have  been  walloped  for  it ;  and 
the  boys  were  sneaks,  that  they  had  not  stood  by  us,  when 
we  tried,  the  next  day,  to  turn  the  tables  on  him " 

"As  he  had  first  done  on  you,  for  some  previous  trick, 
eigh  ?  "  interrupted  the  former.  "  You  have  generally  had 
strange  doings  in  school,  both  by  scholars  and  teachers,  we 
all  know  ;  but  now  they  have  put  me  in  committee,  I  intend 
to  look  after  you  a  little  myself.  Now,  sir,"  he  added,  again 
turning  to  Locke,  "  now,  sir,  we  will  come  back  to  your  case, 
if  you  please  —  what  will  be  your  price  a  month,  and 
boarded  ?  " 

«  Fifteen  dollars." 

"  We  gave  but  fourteen  last  winter,  and  the  master  could 
manage  such  a  set  of  fellows  as  ours,  too.  The  district  will 
never  consent  to  rise  on  that  price.  Can't  you  fall  a  dollar  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  might,  if  I  could  make  up  my  mind  to  under 
take  your  school." 

"  Make  up  your  mind  !  why,  you  offered  yourself ;  and 
you  did  not  come  to  trifle  with  me,  did  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not." 

"  Well,  wait  then  till  we  have  thought  and  talked  this 
business  all  out.  Don't  get  frightened  before  you  are  hurt. 
You  may  think  better  of  some  of  us  before  we  get  through. 
But  there  is  another  thing  :  our  district  require  a  master  to 
teach  all  the  working  days  in  the  month,  and  not  twenty-two 


60  LOCKE    AMSDEN;    OK 

days,  as  you  masters  generally  make  a  month  —  would  you 
consent  to  that  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  should  not  be  disposed  to  quarrel  with  you, 
even  on  that  point,  if  I  were  to  take  your  school." 

"  Very  well.  So  then  we  can  agree  upon  the  terms,  I 
see,"  said  Bunker.  "  Now,  for  the  main  question  —  do  you 
know  any  thing  ?  " 

:;  I  trust  so,  sir,"  said  Locke,  hardly  knowing  yet  what  to 
make  of  the  man,  "  I  trust  so.  Here  is  a  certificate  from 
my  late  preceptor  —  will  you  hear  it  read  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  the  other,  "  I  should  place  no  dependence 
on  any  thing  of  that  sort.  Every  one  who  goes  to  an  acad 
emy  gets  a  certificate,  if  he  wants  one,  I  have  noticed ;  while 
not  one  in  three,  who  go  there,  are  fit  for  teachers.  So  you 
see,  that  there  is  more  than  an  even  chance  that  we  get 
•  cheated,  when  we  take  a  man  on  certificate.  Why,  how,  sir, 
could  a  preceptor  know  whether  you  could  govern  a  school, 
when  you  had  never  tried  it  ?  And  how  could  he  certify, 
that  you  had  a  faculty  to  teach  in  a  school  that  neither  of 
you  had  ever  seen,  where  every  scholar,  perhaps,  would 
require  the  application  of  a  different  method,  before  he  could 
be  brought  to  learn  any  thing  worth  mentioning  ?  " 

"  I  offered  the  paper  only  to  show  my  acquirements  — 
that  I  understood  all  the  sciences  taught  in  common  schools," 
said  Locke  in  reply. 

"  O,  I  presume  you  have  gone  over  enough  of  what  is  put 
down  in  the  books,"  resumed  the  other.  "  But  how  can  I 
tell,  from  your  recommendation,  whether  you  can  think  for 
yourself,  independent  of  your  books  ;  and  what  is  more  for  a 
teacher,  whether  you  can  teach  others  to  think  for  them 
selves  ?  Why,  sir,  I  have  known  many  a  fellow  returned 
from  an  academy,  and  even  a  college,  who  had  no  more  ideas 
of  his  own  than  a  blue  jay.  And  besides  that,  his  brains 
were  so  trammeled  by  rules,  &c.,  that  there  was  little  pros- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  61 

pect  of  his  ever  bettering  his  condition.  Now,  the  main 
object  of  education  should  be,  in  my  opinion,  to  teach  men 
to  think,  and  not  depend  upon  books  for  every  thing  to  be 
known.  Now,  here  is  the  great  book  of  nature  open  before 
us,  full  of  every  kind  of  knowledge  for  those  who  can  think. 
Then,  don't  you  see  the  advantage  which  a  man  who  can 
read  that  has  over  one  who  can  only  read  the  books  of  men, 
which  are  so  liable  to  contain  errors  ?  " 

"  I  certainly  agree  with  you  in  much  you  have  said, 
sir ;  but  if  you  intend  to  say  that  book  learning,  as  you 
would  term  it,  is  useless,  I  must  wholly  dissent,"  observed 
Locke. 

"  I  don't  say  or  think  so,"  said  Bunker.  "  No,  it  gives 
one  great  advantages  in  knowing  what  others  in  different 
parts  of  the  world  have  found  out,  and  may  be,  if  rightly 
used  and  understood,  a  great  help  to  him  in  thinking  and 
making  discoveries  for  himself.  No,  I  don't  think  so  of 
learning  ;  for  I  am  half  bothered  to  death  for  the  want  of  it 
myself,  as  you  have  to-day  seen.  And  all  I  want  of  you  is, 
to  find  out  whether  you  have  it ;  and,  if  so,  whether  it  has 
made  you  a  good  thinker,  and  one  who  can  teach  others  to 
be  so,  as  well  as  to  teach  them  the  books." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  responded  the  other,  "  I  am  quite  willing 
you  should  satisfy  yourself,  and  in  your  own  way." 

"  I  will,"  replied  Bunker.  "  And  first,  let  us  see  how  you 
stand  in  arithmetic.  What  will  twenty-seven  multiplied  by 
twenty-three  produce  ?  Don't  look  round  for  a  slate  or 
paper,  but  work  it  out  in  your  head,  as  I  do  all  my  reck 
oning." 

This  sum,  as  soon  as  the  answer  was  given  by  the  one  and 
pronounced  correct  by  the  other,  was  followed  by  more  ques 
tions  in  each  of  the  other  fundamental  rules  of  the  science 
under  consideration.  Then  came  questions  requiring,  first, 
the  aid  of  two  of  these  rules,  then  three,  then  all,  each 
6 


02  LOCKE    AMSDKN.    OK 

question  being  more  difficult  and  complex,  till  the  whole 
ground-work  of  common  arithmetic  was  passed  over  by  the 
questioner  ;  in  all  of  which  he  showed  himself  a  proficient  in 
mental  arithmetic  to  a  degree  that  perfectly  astonished  our 
hero,  who,  though  he  was,  from  his  former  habits  of  working 
sums  in  his  head  while  at  work,  uncommonly  ready  at  this 
exercise,  was  yet  often  put  to  his  best  powers  in  furnishing 
answers  as  soon  as  they  were  obtained  by  the  proposer. 

"  Well,  well,  young  man,"  said  Bunker,  with  a  look  of 
approbation,  as  he  brought  his  questions  in  this  branch  to  a 
close,  "  it  is  not  every  one  that  can  do  what  you  have  done. 
But  we  will  now  see  if  you  can  do  as  well  in  other  matters. 
We  will  take  geography,  which  I  rank  next  to  arithmetic  in 
usefulness.  Boys,  will  one  of  you  step  into  the  house,  and 
bring  us  my  maps  ?  " 

The  boy  despatched  soon  returned  with  a  full  and  valuable 
set  of  maps,  with  which,  to  the  surprise  of  Locke,  the  owner 
soon  showed  himself  perfectly  familiar;  he,  it  appeared, 
having  purchased  them,  some  years  before,  for  himself  and 
children,  with  whom  he  had  studied  them,  always  keeping  a 
boy  by  his  side,  when  thus  occupied,  to  read  him  the  names 
of  rivers,  lakes,  &c.,  as,  one  by  one,  he  traced  out  each  on 
the  map  with  his  finger,  till  he  had  mastered  the  whole. 

A  thorough  and  critical  examination  was  now  commenced, 
and,  for  some  time,  carried  on  by  Bunker,  in  a  series  of  novel 
and  ingenious  questions,  well  calculated  to  detect  any  defi 
ciency  in  the  examined. 

"  Very  well,  very  well,  sir,"  said  the  interrogator,  good 
huinoredly,  as  he  finished  this  part  of  his  examination,  "  I 
don't  see  but  what  you  understand  geography  nearly  as  well 
as  a  man  who  can  neither  read  nor  write.  There  is  one 
general  question  more,  however,  that  I  will  ask  you — which 
do  you  call  the  largest  river  in  the  world  ?  " 

"  The  Amazon  is  so  accounted,"  replied  the  other. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  63 

"  Yes,  I  know  it  is  so  laid  down  in  the  books  ;  but  do  you 
think  it  so  yourself  ?  " 

"  I  had  supposed  that  to  be  the  case,  sir." 

"  Why  ?  " 

"  Because  it  discharges  the  most  water  in  a  given  time." 

"  You  have  got  hold  of  the  right  manner  of  testing  it,  if 
it  was  only  capable  of  being  reduced  to  practice  ;  and  what 
you  assert  of  this  river  may  be  a  fact ;  but  the  question  is, 
how  it  can  be  ascertained." 

"  Why,  sir,  it  is  the  widest  river,  certainly." 

"  Widest !  There  again  is  one  of  your  book  rules,  and 
see  where  it  will  land  you,  sir  !  Don't  these  fools  of  book 
makers  know,  that  one  river  may  be  twice  as  deep,  and  run 
twice  as  fast  as  another ;  and  consequently,  that  one  river  of 
a  mile  wide  may  discharge  as  much  water  as  another  of 
double  that  width,  in  the  same  time  ?  " 

"  I  had  concluded  that  all  these  circumstances  had  been 
taken  into  the  account,  when  comparing  the  size  of  this  river 
with  that  of  the  Mississippi,  or  other  large  rivers,  before  the 
fact  in  question  was  put  down  as  established." 

"  Some  guess-work  of  the  kind  may  have  been  had  on  the 
subject,  probably  enough.  But  that  is  all ;  for  do  you  sup 
pose  anybody  has  ever  measured  the  depth  or  sAviftness  of  the 
currents  of  these  rivers  ?  No  !  Why,  it  would  take  a  board 
of  engineers  two  years,  and  at  the  cost  of  millions,  to  do  this 
with  any  accuracy.  They  would  have  to  go,  foot  by  foot, 
through  the  constantly-varying  currents  from  one  side  to  the 
other  ;  and  even  then,  how  Avould  they  ascertain  whether  the 
water  at  the  surface  did  not  move  twice  as  fast  as  at  the  bot 
tom  ?  No,  sir,  this  never  was  or  will  be  done.  We  must 
depend  on  other  methods  for  ascertaining  facts  of  this  kind." 

"  What  other  method  would  you  then  propose  ?  " 
"  Why,  I  have  been  able  to  think  of  no  method  so  good  as 
to  ascertain  the  number  of  square  miles  which  is  drained  by 


04  LUCRE    AMSDEX,    OR 

a  river  whose  comparative  size  you  wish  to  know  ;  and  when 
the  quantity  of  surface  thus  drained  is  found,  take  another 
river,  find  the  surface  that  drains  also,  compare  the  results, 
and  you  have  the  relative  size  of  the  two.  Now  here  is  a 
very  simple  method,  which  I  practise  for  this  purpose,"  con 
tinued  the  speaker,  spreading  open  the  maps  of  North  and 
South  America.  "  Both  these  are  on  the  same  scale,  you 
see.  Now  I  will  place  this  piece  of  white  paper  over  that 
part  of  South  America  which  is  drained  by  the  Amazon,  and 
then  cut  it  down  with  the  scissors,  so  that  its  outline  shall 
just  cover  the  extreme  points,  or  sources  of  all  the  tributa 
ries  of  this  great  river.  Then  we  will  cut  the  paper,  thus 
made  to  represent  the  required  surface  on  the  same  scale 
with  the  map,  into  triangles,  or  such  other  figures  as  can  be 
put  together  again  in  some  square  shape,  for  measurement  in 
square  miles.  In  this  manner,  if  the  map  be  correct,  you 
get  the  surface  drained  by  the  Amazon.  You  then  can  go 
through  the  same  operation  with  the  Mississippi,  obtain  your 
result,  compare  it  with  that  of  the  former,  and  you  will  have 
the  difference  between  the  sizes  of  these  two  king-rivers  of 
the  new  world.  And  whenever  you  do  it,  you  will  find  that 
difference  much  less  than  is  generally  supposed  ;  you  will 
find  that  our  Mississippi  of  a  mile  wide,  when  it  meets  the 
tide-waters,  is  more  than  three-fourths  as  large  as  the  mighty 
Amazon,  which  is  put  down  in  (lie  books  to  be  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  wide  at  its  mouth.  And  if  the 
maps  could  be  corrected,  so  as  to  show  the  exact  truth,  I  am 
not  so  sure  but  one  would  be  found  as  large  as  the  other." 

"  Your  method  is  new  to  me,  Mr.  Bunker,"  observed 
Locke,  "  and  I  shall  probably  be  indebted  to  you  for  a  new 
idea.  I  will  think  of  it." 

"  Ay,  think  —  that's  the  way  to  get  true  knowledge." 
"  Have  you  any  questions  to  ask  me  in  the  other  branches, 
sir  ?  " 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  65 

"  Not  many.  There  is  reading,  writing,  grammar,  &c., 
which  I  know  nothing  about ;  and  as  to  them,  I  must,  of 
course,  take  you  by  guess,  which  will  not  be  much  of  a  guess, 
after  all,  if  I  find  you  have  thought  well  on  all  other  mat 
ters.  Do  you  understand  philosophy  ?  It  is  not  often 
required  of  our  common  schoolmasters,  I  know,  but  it  is  a 
grand  thing  for  them  to  understand  something  of  it ;  for  then 
they  will  naturally,  on  a  thousand  occasions,  be  putting  new 
ideas  into  the  heads  of  their  scholars,  and  in  that  way  set 
them  to  thinking  for  themselves.'1 

"  To  what  branch  of  philosophy  do  you  allude,  sir  ?  " 

"  To  the  only  branch  there  is." 

"  But  you  are  aware,  that  philosophy  is  divided  into  differ 
ent  kinds,  as  natural,  moral,  and  intellectual  ?  " 

"  Nonsense !  philosophy  is  philosophy,  and  means  the 
study  of  the  reasons  and  causes  of  the  things  which  we  see, 
whether  it  be  applied  to  a  crazy  man's  dreams,  or  the  roasting 
of  potatoes.  Have  you  attended  to  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  to  a  considerable  extent,  sir." 

"  I  will  put  a  question  or  two,  then,  if  you  please.  What 
is  the  reason  of  the  fact,  for  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  damp  breath 
of  a  person  blown  on  to  a  good  knife,  and  on  to  a  bad  one, 
will  soonest  disappear  from  the  well-tempered  blade  ?  " 

"  It  may  be  owing  to  the  difference  in  the  polish  of  the 
two  blades,  perhaps,"  replied  Locke. 

"  Ah !  that  is  an  answer  that  don't  go  deeper  than  the  sur 
face,"  rejoined  Bunker,  humorously.  "  As  good  a  thinker  as 
you  evidently  are,  you  have  not  thought  of  this  subject,  I 
suspect.  It  took  me  a  week,  in  all,  I  presume,  of  hard 
thinking,  and  making  experiments  at  a  blacksmith's  shop,  to 
discover  the  reason  of  this.  It  is  not  the  polish ;  for  take 
two  blades  of  equal  polish,  and  the  breath  will  disappear 
from  one  as  much  quicker  than  it  does  from  the  other,  as  the 
blade  is  better.  It  is  because  the  material  of  the  blade  is 
6* 


66  LOCKE    A.MSDKiN,    OK 

more  compact,  or  less  porous,  in  one  case  than  in  the  other. 
In  the  first  place,  I  ascertained  that  steel  was  made  more 
compact  by  being  hammered  and  tempered,  and  that  the 
better  it  was  tempered,  the  more  compact  it  would  become ; 
the  size  of  the  pores  being  made,  of  course,  less  in  the  same 
proportion.  "Well,  then,  I  saw  the  reason  I  was  in  search 
of,  at  once.  For  we  know  a  wet  sponge  is  longer  in  drying 
than  a  wet  piece  of  green  wood,  because  the  pores  of  the  first 
are  bigger.  A  seasoned  or  shrunk  piece  of  wood  dries 
quicker  than  a  green  one,  for  the  same  reason.  Or  you 
might  bore  a  piece  of  wood  with  large  girablet  holes,  and 
another  with  small  ones,  fill  them  both  with  water,  and  let 
them  stand  till  the  water  evaporated,  and  the  difference  of 
time  it  would  take  to  do  this,  would  make  the  case  still  more 
plain.  So  with  the  blades  ;  the  wet  or  vapor  lingers  longest 
on  the  worst  wrought  and  tempered  one,  because  the  pore?, 
being  larger,  take  in  more  of  the  wet  particles,  and  require 
more  time  in  drying." 

"  Your  theory  is  at  least  a  very  ingenious  one,"  observed 
Locke,  "  and  I  am  reminded  by  it  of  another  of  the  natural 
phenomena,  of  the  true  explanation  of  which  I  have  not 
been  able  to  satisfy  myself.  It  is  this  :  what  makes  the 
earth  freeze  harder  and  deeper  under  a  trodden  path  than 
the  untrodden  earth  around  it.  All  that  I  have  asked,  say 
it  is  because  the  trodden  earth  is  more  compact.  But  is  that 
reason  a  sufficient  one  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Bunker,  "  but  I  will  tell  you  what  the  reason 
is  ;  for  I  thought  that  out  long  ago.  You  know  that,  in  the 
freezing  months,  much  of  the  warmth  we  get  is  given  out  by 
the  earth,  from  which,  at  intervals,  if  not  constantly,  to  some 
extent,  ascend  the  warm  vapors  to  mingle  with  and  moderate 
the  cold  atmosphere  above.  Now  those  ascending  streams 
of  warm  air  would  be  almost  wholly  obstructed  by  the  com 
pactness  of  a  trodden  path,  and  they  would  naturally  divide 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  67 

at  some  distance  below  it,  and  pass  up  through  the  loose 
earth  on  each  side,  leaving  the  ground  along  the  line  of  the 
path,  to  a  great  depth  beneath  it,  a  cold,  dead  mass,  through 
which  the  frost  would  continue  to  penetrate,  unchecked  by 
the  internal  heat,  which,  in  its  unobstructed  ascent  on  each 
side,  would  be  continually  checking  or  overcoming  the  frost 
in  its  action  on  the  earth  around.  That,  sir,  is  the  true  phi 
losophy  of  the  case,  you  may  depend  upon  it.  But  now  let 
me  ask  you  a  question  —  and  it  shall  be  the  last  one  —  a 
question  which,  perhaps,  you  may  think  a  trifling  one,  but 
which,  for  all  that,  is  full  of  meaning.  What  is  the  truest 
sign  by  which  you  can  judge  of  the  coming  weather  ?  " 

"  The  quantity  of  dew  that  has  fallen  the  night  before,  or 
that  is  then  falling,  if  it  be  evening  and  the  prognostic  is 
required  for  the  next  day,"  replied  the  other.  "  At  least  I 
have  never  noticed  any  better  criterion." 

"  That  is  an  old  rule,  and  a  good  one,  I  grant  you," 
remarked  Bunker ;  "  but  not  so  curious  and  unfailing  as 
another  which  I,  some  time  ago,  began  to  observe." 

"  What  may  that  be,  sir  ?  " 

"  Why,  this,  when  you  wish  to  know  what  the  weather  is 
going  to  be,  just  go  out,  and  select  the  smallest  cloud  you  can 
see,  keep  your  eye  upon  it,  and  if  it  decreases  and  disap 
pears,  it  shows  a  state  of  the  air  which  will  be  sure  to  be 
followed  by  fair  weather ;  but  if  it  increases,  you  may  as 
well  take  your  great  coat  with  you,  if  you  are  going  from 
home,  for  falling  weather  will  not  be  far  off." 

"  That  is,  indeed,  a  curious  and  interesting  fact  in  meteor 
ology,"  responded  Locke,  "  and  I  can  readily  see  the  reason 
why  the  indication  should  generally,  at  least,  hold  good." 

"  And  what  is  that  reason  ?  "  asked  Bunker,  with  interest. 

"  Why,  it  is  resolvable  into  electric  phenomenon,  I  sus 
pect,"  answered  the  former.  "  Whenever  the  air  is  be 
coming  charged  with  electricity,  you  will  see  every  cloud 


68  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

attracting  all  less  ones  towards  it,  till  it  gathers  into  a  shower. 
And,  on  the  contrary,  when  this  fluid  is  passing  off,  or  dif 
fusing  itself,  even  a  large  cloud  will  be  seen  breaking  to 
pieces  and  dissolving." 

"  Right,  sir !  "  cried  Bunker  ;  "  you  are  a  thinker,  and  no 
mistake.  And  let  me  tell  you,  there's  more  depending  on 
that  same  electricity  than  your  book  philosophers  dream  of. 
I  am  pretty  well  satisfied,  that  not  only  our  dry  seasons  and 
our  wet  ones,  our  cold  seasons  and  our  warm  ones,  are  caused 
by  some  variation  in  the  state  of  the  electric  fluid,  but  that 
our  epidemical  diseases,  and  a  thousand  other  things  that  we 
cannot  account  for,  are  to  be  attributed  to  tlic  same  cause. 
But  we  will  now  drop  the  discussion  of  these  matters  ;  for 
I  am  abundantly  satisfied,  that  you  have  not  only  knowledge 
enough,  but  that  you  can  think  for  yourself.  And  now,  sir, 
all  I  wish  to  know  further  about  you  is,  whether  you  can 
teach  others  to  think,  which  is  half  the  battle  with  a  teacher. 
But  as  I  have  had  an  eye  on  this  point,  while  attending  to 
the  others,  probably  one  experiment,  which  I  will  put  upon 
you  to  make  on  one  of  the  boys  here,  will  be  all  I  shall 
want," 

"  Proceed,  sir,"  said  the  other. 

"  Ay,  sir,"  rejoined  Bunker,  turning  to  the  open  fire-place, 
in  which  the  burning  wood  was  sending  up  a  column  of 
smoke  ;  "  there  you  see  that  smoke  rising,  don't  you  ?  Well, 
you  and  I  know  the  reason  why  smoke  goes  upward,  but  my 
youngest  boy  don't,  I  rather  think.  Now  take  your  own 
way,  and  see  if  you  can  make  him  clearly  understand  it." 

Locke,  after  a  moment's  reflection  and  a  glance  round  the 
room  for  something  to  serve  for  apparatus,  took  from  a  shelf, 
where  he  had  espied  a  number  of  the  articles,  the  smallest 
of  a  set  of  cast-iron  cart-boxes,  as  is  usually  termed  the 
round,  hollow  tubes,  in  which  the  axletree  of  a  carriage 
turns.  Then  selecting  a  tin  cup,  that  would  just  take  in  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  69 

box,  and  turning  into  the  cup  as  much  water  as  he  judged, 
with  the  box.  would  fill  it,  he  presented  them  separately  to 
the  boy,  and  said, 

"  There,  my  lad,  tell  me  which  of  these  is  the  heaviest  ?  " 

"  Why,  the  cart-box,  to  be  sure,"  replied  the  boy,  taking 
the  cup  half-filled  with  water  in  one  hand,  and  the  hollow 
iron  in  the  other. 

"  Then  you  think  this  iron  is  heavier  than  as  much  water 
as  would  fill  the  place  of  it,  do  you  ?  "  resumed  Locke. 

"  Why,  yes,  as  heavy  again,  and  more  too  —  I  know  't  is," 
promptly  said,  the  boy. 

"  Well,  sir,  now  mark  what  I  do,"  proceeded  the  former, 
dropping  into  the  cup  the  iron  box,  through  the  hollow  of 
which  the  water  instantly  rose  to  the  brim  of  the  vessel. 

"  There,  you  saw  that  water  rise  to  the  top  of  the  cup,  did 
you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  did." 

"  Very  well,  what  caused  it  to  do  so  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  know  well  enough,  if  I  could  think ;  why,  it  is 
because  the  iron  is  the  heaviest,  and  as  it  comes  all  round 
the  water  so  it  can't  get  away  sideways,  it  is  forced  up." 

"  That  is  right ;  and  now  I  want  you  to  tell  me  what 
makes  that  smoke  rise  up  the  chimney." 

"  Why,  I  guess,"  replied  the  boy,  scratching  his  head,  "  I 
guess  —  I  guess  I  don't  know." 

"  Did  you  ever  get  up  in  a  chair  to  look  on  some  high 
shelf,  so  that  your  head  was  brought  near  the  ceiling  of  a 
heated  room,  in  winter  ?  and,  if  so,  did  you  notice  any  differ 
ence  between  the  air  up  there  and  the  air  near  the  floor 
below  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  remember  —  I  have,  and  found  the  air  up  there 
as  warm  as  mustard ;  and  when  I  got  down,  and  bent  my 
head  near  the  floor  to  pick  up  something,  I  found  it  as  cold 
as  tunket." 


70  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  That  is  ever  the  case  ;  but  I  wish  you  to  tell  me 
the  cold  air  always  happens  to  settle  down  to  the  lower  part 
of  the  room,  while  the  warm  air,  some  how,  at  the  same 
time,  gets  above." 

"  Why,  why,  heavy  things  settle  clown,  and  the  cold  air  — • 
yes,  that's  it,  an't  it  ?  —  the  cold  air  is  heaviest,  and  so  set 
tles  down,  and  crowds  up  the  warm  air,  that  is  lightest." 

"  Very  good.  You  then  understand  that  cold  air  is  heavier 
than  the  heated  air,  as  that  iron  is  heavier  than  the  water  ; 
so  we  now  will  go  back  to  the  main  question  —  what  makes 
the  smoke  go  upwards  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  see  it  now  as  plain  as  day  ;  the  cold  air  settles 
down  all  round,  like  the  iron  box,  and  drives  up  the  hot  air, 
as  fast  as  the  fire  heats  it  in  the  middle,  like  the  water ;  and 
so  the  hot  air  carries  the  smoke  along  up  with  it,  same  as 
feathers  and  things  in  a  whirlwind.  Gorry  !  I  have  found  out 
what  makes  smoke  go  up  —  it  is  curious,  though,  an't  it,  you  ?  " 

"  Done  like  a  philosopher  !  "  cried  Bunker.  "  The  thing 
is  settled.  I  will  give  up  that  you  are  an  academician  of  a 
thousand.  You  can  not  only  think  for  yourself,  but  can 
teach  others  to  think  ;  and  I  therefore  pronounce  you  well 
qualified  for  a  schoolmaster,  in  every  thing  except  govern 
ment,  about  which  we  will  hope  for  the  best,  and  run  the 
risk  ;  so  you  may  call  it  a  bargain  as  quick  as  you  please." 

"  You  offer  to  make  it  so  on  your  part,  I  suppose  you 
mean  to  be  understood,"  said  Locke  ;  "  for  on  mine,  you 
remember  I  told  you,  some  time  ago,  that  I  feel  unwilling  to 
undertake  to  govern  a  school  of  the  character  I  have  discov 
ered  yours  to  be." 

"  What,  back  out  now  ?  "  exclaimed  the  other,  with  a  dis 
appointed  air.  "  Why,  I  was  beginning  to  have  a  first-rate 
opinion  of  you,  and  thought,  of  course,  you  would  have 
spunk  enough  to  make  a  trial,  at  least.  Surely,  you  an't 
such  a  coward  as  to  be  afraid  to  do  that,  are  you  ?  " 


TUB    SCHOOLMASTER.  71 

These  last  remarks  of  Bunker,  as  taunting  as  they  were 
in  import,  were  yet  made  in  such  a  half-reproachful,  half- 
respectful  manner,  that  they  might  not  have  brought  our 
hero  to  any  decision,  but  for  the  low,  deriding  laugh  which 
the  two  larger  boys  set  up  on  the  occasion,  and  which  fell  upon 
his  ears  with  such  an  exasperating  effect,  that  it  brought  him  to 
an  instant  determination,  and  he  replied,  with  unwonted  spirit, 

"  I  will  come  on,  sir  ;  and  with  your  permission,  we  will 
see  whether  pupil  or  teacher  shall  be  the  master  of  the  school 
for  the  remainder  of  the  winter." 

"  Good !  that  sounds  like  something,"  said  Bunker,  with 
returning  good  humor.  "  Boys,"  he  continued,  nodding  sig 
nificantly  to  his  two  oldest  sons,  "  boys,  did  you  hear  that  ? 
Ah  !  all  will  come  out  well  enough,  I  imagine.  But  come, 
sir,  now  we  have  settled  the  contract,  we  will  walk  into  the 
house  for  a  little  refreshment  before  we  let  you  go  home  ; 
and  while  taking  it,  we  will  fix  on  the  day  of  beginning  the 
school,  first  boarding  place,  &c.  Come,  sir,  come  on  ;  and  if 
you  have  a  good  appetite,  I  will  promise  you  a  good  dinner." 

The  decisive  answer,  which  bound  our  hero  to  engage  in 
this  school,  had  now  been  given,  and  he  had  too  much  pride 
to  make  any  attempts  to  recede  from  it ;  although,  it  must  be 
confessed,  that  as  soon  as  the  momentary  impulse,  under 
which  he  had  thus  consummated  the  bargain,  had  died  away, 
he  more  than  half  regretted  the  step  he  had  taken.  As  it  was, 
however,  he  soon  determined  to  throw  aside,  as  far  as  possi 
ble,  both  fears  and  regrets,  and,  arming  himself  with  the 
rectitude  of  his  purposes,  proceed  boldly  and  decidedly  upon 
the  task  now  before  him.  He  at  once  saw,  that,  in  this 
school,  as  in  many  others  in  our  country,  especially  in  the 
newer  parts  of  it,  a  false  standard  of  honor  had,  from  some 
peculiar  combination  of  circumstances,  sprung  up  among  the 
scholars  ;  that  instead  of  intellectual  attainments,  physical 
prowess,  or  mere  brute  force,  had  unfortunately  been  made 


72  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

the  subject  of  predominating  applause ;  and  that  this,  as  a 
very  natural  consequence,  had  led  to  the  insubordination, 
and  the  frequent  attempts  of  bullying  the  master,  of  which 
he  had  heard.  And  he  justly  reasoned,  that,  if  he  could 
break  down  this  false  standard,  and  set  up  the  true  one,  as 
he  was  resolved,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  do,  it  would  not 
only  insure  his  own  success,  but  prove  the  greatest  of  bless 
ings  to  the  school.  He  could  not  expect,  however,  to  effect 
this  object,  at  once  ;  and  the  greatest  difficulties,  therefore, 
he  would  have  to  encounter,  would  be  likely  to  occur  during 
the  first  weeks  of  his  school.  It  was  this  which  had  caused 
him  so  long  to  hesitate.  But  having,  at  length,  been  spurred 
into  the  undertaking,  in  the  manner  above  mentioned,  he 
now  made  up  his  mind  to  face  the  dangers  manfully ;  and,  if 
acts  of  moral  courage  would  not  serve,  physical  force,  accord 
ing,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  should  be  employed  to  complete 
the  conquest,  till  his  contemplated  reformation,  in  this  objec 
tionable  feature  of  the  school,  could  be  effected.  It  was 
with  these  feelings,  that,  after  an  interesting  hour  spent  in 
general  conversation,  during  the  preparing  and  partaking  of 
the  substantial  meal  provided  on  the  occasion,  Locke  Amsden 
took  leave  of  his  singular  host  and  employer,  and  departed. 

On  his  way  homeward,  young  Amsden  fell  to  revolving 
over  in  mind  the  occurrences  of  the  day,  dwelling  on  the 
unexpected  manner  in  which  he  had  been  received  and  ex 
amined,  and  on  the  still  more  unexpected  intelligence  of  the 
man  with  whom  he  had  thus  come  in  contact,  with  the 
interested  and  curious  feelings  of  one  to  whom  some  new 
leaf  in  the  book  of  human  nature  has  been  presented  for 
contemplation  and  study.  He  had  been  taken  by  complete 
surprise  by  the  character  of  Bunker.  Like  many  other  stu 
dents,  whose  intercourse  is  yet  mainly  confined  to  their  fellows 
and  instructors  of  the  high  schools,  he  had  been  led  to 
underrate  the  strength  and  compass  of  the  uneducated  mind  ; 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  73 

and  he  had  expected  to  find,  in  the  person  in  question,  when 
he  understood  him  to  be  ignorant  of  even  the  simplest  rudi 
ments  of  learning,  one  of  a  corresponding  ignorance  of 
principles  and  lack  of  ideas.  But,  instead  of  this,  he  had 
found  a  wholly  unlettered  man,  who  had  grasped  and  mastered 
all  the  leading  principles  of  several  of  the  most  important 
sciences  ;  and  who,  by  his  own  unassisted  thought  and  obser 
vation,  had  stored  his  mind  with  a  fund  of  original  ideas 
more  ample,  perhaps,  than  that  of  many  a  scholar  who  had 
trod  the  whole  round  of  the  sciences.  Some  of  Bunker's 
notions,  it  is  true  —  such,  for  instance,  as  his  opinion  of  book- 
learning,  and  the  views  he  apparently  entertained  relative  to 
a  dependence  on  force  for  governing  a  school  —  our  hero 
believed  to  be  entirely  erroneous  ;  but  the  greater  part  of 
the  man's  ideas  had  struck  him  as  not  only  new,  but  gen 
erally  as  forcible  and  just.  And  now,  as  he  again  called 
them  to  mind,  and  thought  of  the  disadvantages  under  which 
they  had  been  acquired,  he  could  not  forbear  mentally  ex 
claiming,  "  What  might  not  such  a  mind  become  by  the 
assistance  of  a  well-applied  education  ?  " 

Such  were  the  reflections  of  our  young  aspirant,  who,  ever 
eager  for  knowledge,  from  whatever  source  it  might  come, 
felt  himself  instructed  by  what  he  had  that  day  heard  and 
witnessed.  And  well  and  wisely  had  he  acted,  in  listening, 
in  the  spirit  of  candid  inquiry,  to  the  suggestions  of  one 
whose  ideas  were  so  entirely  the  fruits  of  his  own  inde 
pendent  thought  and  discriminating  observation  ;  for  among 
people  of  such  minds,  however  obscure  or  illiterate  they  may 
be,  will  be  found,  for  those  who  can  separate  truth  from  the 
errors  with  which  it  may  there  occasionally  be  intermixed, 
the  most  productive  fields  for  gleaning  knowledge. 

It  was  a  favorite  theory  of  the  self-taught  mountaineer 
whom  we  have  introduced,  it  will  be  recollected,  that  every 
thing  depended  on  being  able  to  think.  It  would  be  well, 
7 


74  LOCKE    AMSDEX.    OU 

perhaps,  for  the  cause  of  science,  if  there  were  among  those 
claiming  to  be  friends  to  her  advancement,  more  who  held  to 
the  same  opinion  —  who  were  at  the  same  pains  to  enforce, 
by  precept  and  example,  this  theory  in  its  true  meaning,  as 
they  are  to  remould,  amplify,  and  bring  out  in  new  dresses, 
the  thoughts  which  those  old  strong  thinkers  of  gone-by 
days  have  wrought  out  for  the  appropriation  of  the  intel 
lectual  idlers  and  surface-skimming  book-makers  of  the 
present.  This  may  be,  and  doubtless  is,  a  reading  age  ;  but 
with  all  its  advantages,  we  see  not  what  claim  it  has  to  be 
called  a  thinking  age.  The  cause  of  this  may,  in  some 
measure,  perhaps,  be  attributable  to  the  prevailing  utilitarian 
spirit  of  the  times,  which  is  more  likely  to  lead  only  to  the 
lighter  investigations  required  ia  turning  to  account  what  is 
already  known  in  science,  than  to  laborious  thinking,  and 
those  profound  researches  by  which  the  scholars  of  past 
times  were  accustomed  to  push  their  way  in  the  field  of  dis 
covery  ;  and  which,  by  inviting  and  turning,  through  superior 
inducement,  the  greater  proportion  of  the  talents  of  the  day 
into  one  channel,  may  have  a  tendency  to  circumscribe,  im 
pede,  and  weaken  the  operations  of  mind,  and  unfit  it  for  the 
free,  bold,  and  vigorous  action  which  ever  characterizes  a 
thinking  age.  Another  cause  for  this  intellectual  character 
istic  of  our  times  may,  perhaps,  be  found  in  the  great 
comparative  ease  with  which  knowledge  is  now  acquired. 
The  sciences,  as  now  taught  in  our  schools,  are  simplified  to 
the  utmost.  Besides  this,  a  great  proportion  of  our  text 
books  are  prepared  with  questions  involving  most  of  what 
is  essential  to  be  learned  on  the  subject  matter  therein 
contained.  The  answers  to  these  questions,  we  fear,  are 
quite  too  often  obtained  at  an  easier  rate  than  by  investiga 
tions  of  the  lessons  from  which  they  alone  should  be  gathered, 
and  consequently  without  a  full  understanding  of  the  subject. 
What  is  still  worse  in  this  system,  as  usually  conducted, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  75 

it  naturally  fixes  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  a  limit  beyond  which 
he  conceives  he  need  not  push  his  investigations  ;  and  when 
that  limit,  which  embraces  all  the  questions  propounded,  is 
gained,  he  thinks  his  task  perfected.  In  this  manner  he 
is  deterred  from  extending  his  inquiries  on  many  different 
points  which  might  otherwise  occur  to  his  rnind,  and  from 
examining  many  bearings  of  the  subject  which  he  otherwise 
would  do.  But  whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  the  fact,  if 
fact  it  be,  as  we  believe,  the  existence  of  that  fact  is  an  evil 
which  is  as  unnecessary  as  it  is  ominous  to  the  progress  of 
scientific  discovery  ;  and  it  should  awaken  the  attention  of 
the  friends  of  science  to  the  adoption  of  a  course  of  measures 
that  shall  have  a  tendency  to  supply  a  remedy,  without 
infringing  upon  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  any  real 
improvements  which  have  been  made. 

We  will  now  return  from  our  digression.  After  a  long 
and  tedious  ride,  during  which  a  dark  and  squally  night  had 
shut  down  over  the  desolate  landscape,  our  hero's  eyes  were 
at  length  greeted  with  the  cheering  light  that  issued  from  the 
blazing  logs,  which,  as  usual  on  nights  of  the  wintry  character 
of  the  present,  were  liberally  piled  on  the  hearth  of  his 
father's  kitchen.  On  reaching  the  house,  he  put  his  horse 
into  the  stable,  and  joined  the  family  group  within,  whom, 
for  the  last  hour,  he  had  been  envying,  as  he  truly  pictured 
them  sitting  in  comfort  around  the  social  fireside.  Having 
done  good  justice  to  a  choice  repast  which  maternal  solicitude 
had  prepared  and  kept  in  readiness  for  his  expected  return, 
he  related  the  adventures  of  his  excursion  and  the  result, 
and  paused  to  hear  the  comments  which  his  parents  and 
brother  might  make  on  the  occasion. 

"  They  must  be  strange  people,"  remarked  Mrs.  Amsdeii ; 
"  and  as  parents,  singular,  indeed,  must  be  their  notions, 
which  permit  them  thus  to  sanction  the  conduct  of  their 


76  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

boys,  in  such  treatment  of  their  instructors.     Why,  I  am 
sorry  you  engaged  in  such  a  place,  Locke." 

"  0,  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Amsden  ;  "  they  seem  rather 
rough,  according  to  Locke's  story,  to  be  sure  ;  but  it  may  do 
him  good  to  place  him  among  folks  that  will  wake  him  up  a 
little.  There's  spunk  enough  in  him,  if  you  could  get  it  to 
the  surface,  I  rather  guess.  At  all  events,  now  he  has 
engaged,  I  would  do  my  best  to  carry  it  out,  if  I  was  he." 

"  So  would  I,"  promptly  responded  Ben.  "  Why,  I  've 
seen  those  Horn-of-the-Moon  boys  often  enough  at  the  wrest 
ling  rings  at  the  muster  trainings.  Some  of  'em,  particularly 
the  Bunkers,  are  as  strong  as  mooses,  sure  enough  ;  but,  in 
any  case  that  takes  real  grit  to  carry  it  out,  I  don't  believe 
they  are  any  great  scratch.  I  saw  a  little  up-and-coming 
sort  of  a  fellow,  from  Sodom  corner,  in  a  fracas  that  a  lot  of 
'em  got  into  at  the  last  muster,  fairly  scare  from  the  ground 
a  fellow  of  the  Horn  gang  as  big  as  two  of  him ;  and  then 
stumped  all  the  rest  to  come  on,  one  at  a  time,  and  there 
was  n't  a  soul  of  the  whole  boodle  that  dared  go  it.  Concern 
'em  !  I  could  contrive  a  way  to  manage  'em." 

"  And  what  would  be  the  general  features  of  your  plan  of 
operations,  my  learned  brother  ?  "  said  Locke,  smiling  good- 
naturedly  at  the  thought  of  the  other  turning  adviser  in 
matters  of  school-keeping. 

"  I  am  learned  enough  to  know  what  is  the  best  way  of 
getting  along  with  such  a  pack  as  the  Horn-of-the-Moon 
boys,  at  any  rate,  I  think,"  replied  Ben,  slightly  nettled ; 
"  and  that  is  more  than  you  know,  or  can  do,  without  help,  I 
fear.  But  if  you  want  to  know  my  plan,  I  will  tell  you  :  — • 
In  the  first  place,  I  would  give  out,  in  some  way,  that  I  waa 
most  furious  quick-tempered,  and  so  unfortunate  bad  and 
ructious,  that  from  a  child,  when  any  one  crossed  and  dis 
puted  me,  I  would  fly  all  to  pieces,  and,  without  knowing 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  77 

what  I  did,  lay  hold  of  the  first  thing  I  could  find,  and  knock 
him  down.  Now,  don't  you  think  they  would  be  rather 
careful  what  they  did,  after  they  believed  that  ?  " 

"  I  shall  go  on  and  endeavor  to  do  my  duty  in  a  proper 
and  decided  manner,"  said  Locke,  in  reply ;  "  but  to  adopt 
your  plan,  though  it  might  have  its  effect  for  a  while,  would 
yet  be  practising  a  deception  to  which  I  could  never  conde 
scend." 

"  That  is  right,  my  son,"  said  Mrs.  Amsden  :  "  I  approve 
your  determination  to  practise  no  deception  ;  I  would  not, 
whatever  the  result." 

"  Why,  mother,"  said  Ben,  "  to  fight  Old  Nick  with  Old 
Nick's  play,  if  we  must  fight  him  at  all,  I  thought  was  right, 
the  world  over." 

"  No,  Benjamin,"  rejoined  the  mother  seriously,  but 
kindly,  "  that  is  a  bad  principle  to  act  upon.  Deception 
never  long  prospers;  and,  by  its  destructive  effect  on  the 
morals  of  him  who  begins  to  practise  it,  generally  ends  in 
the  ruin  of  him  and  all  his  plans." 

Ben  did  not  attempt  to  controvert  his  mother's  general 
position,  but  still  manifested  a  disposition  to  adhere  to  his 
opinion  respecting  the  right  and  expediency  of  adopting  the 
particular  project  he  had  advanced ;  and  muttering,  "  Well, 
Locke  must  be  helped  for  all  that,"  fell  to  musing  and 
devising  some  means  by  which  his  plan  might  be  carried 
into  effect  without  his  brother's  agency  ;  but,  not  seeing  fit  to 
make  known  any  of  his  conclusions,  his  remarks  were  soon 
forgotten,  and  the  whole  subject  being  at  length  dropped,  the 
family  retired  for  the  night. 
7* 


CHAPTER    IV. 

"  Delightful  task  to  rear  the  tender  thought  — 
To  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot !  " 

THOMSON. 

THOSE  who  have  had  much  experience  in  the  business  of 
school-keeping,  before  yielding  their  unqualified  assent  to 
the  oft-quoted  sentiment  of  the  great  rural  poet  which  we 
have  placed  over  this  chapter,  would  generally,  we  appre 
hend,  wish  to  offer,  as  legislators  say,  an  amendment  to  the 
proposition,  in  the  shape  of  a  proviso,  something  like  the 
following :  —  Provided  always,  that  the  teacher  can  have 
the  privilege  of  selecting  his  pupils.  Such,  at  all  events, 
were  the  feelings  of  our  hero,  as,  with  many  misgivings,  he 
set  out,  on  the  appointed  day,  for  the  place  where  he  was  to 
establish  a  government,  in  which  (since  the  understood 
failure  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  experiment  of  introducing  self- 
government,  on  the  principles  of  a  republic,  into  the  college 
of  which  he  was  the  founder)  the  golden  mean  between 
absolute  monarchy  and  anarchy  is  wholly  wanting  —  a  gov 
ernment  over  what,  he  had  reason  to  believe,  would  prove,  in 
the  present  instance,  as  rebellious  a  set  of  subjects  as  were 
ever  brought  to  order  beneath  the  birchen  sceptre  of  a  peda 
gogue.  But  however  mild  his  disposition,  or  unassuming  his 
general  demeanor,  Locke  Amsden  was  by  no  means  wanting 
in  resolution.  He  possessed,  indeed,  one  of  those  seemingly 
paradoxical  characters,  so  often  to  be  found  in  the  world,  and 
yet  almost  as  often  misunderstood,  in  which  great  diffidence 
of  manner  is  united  with  great  firmness  of  purpose,  arid  a 
full  confidence  in  the  ability  to  execute.  And,  consequently, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  79 

whatever  his  fears  and  misgivings,  he  bravely  combated 
them,  and  endeavored  to  fortify  his  mind  against  the  ap 
proaching  hour  of  trial.  In  this,  he  was  much  aided  by  his 
resolute  little  brother,  Ben  ;  who,  for  some  secret  reason,  had 
contrived  to  defeat  a  previously-made  different  arrangement 
for  the  present  journey,  that  he  might  himself  attend  the 
former,  in  whose  success  his  pride  and  interest  seemed  to  be 
wonderfully  awakened. 

On  reaching  the  district  where  he  had  been  engaged, 
Locke  repaired  at  once  to  the  residence  of  his  employer,  at 
whose  house,  it  had  been  before  arranged,  he  should  first 
take  up  his  lodgings,  as  the  beginning  of  that  round  of 
boarding  through  the  district,  which  here,  as  in  many  other 
places,  was  made  to  add  variety,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  to  the 
monotonous  life  of  the  schoolmaster.  He  was  received  with 
much  rough  cordiality  by  Bunker,  and  with  some  show  of 
respect  by  his  mastiff-mannered  boys.  The  good  dame  of 
the  house  soon  began  to  bestir  herself  in  preparation  for  a 
meal  for  the  "  new  master  "  and  his  brother,  the  latter  of 
whom,  it  was  understood,  after  obtaining  refreshment  for 
himself  and  horse,  was  to  return  home  that  evening. 

While  the  dinner  was  preparing,  Ben,  having  departed  for 
the  stables,  to  see  to  his  horse,  in  company  with  the  boys,  with 
whom  he  seemed  determined  to  scrape  acquaintance,  Locke 
and  his  host  soon  became  engaged  in  conversation  on  those 
topics  in  which  they  had  previously  discovered  themselves  to 
feel  a  mutual  interest. 

"  I  have  felt  considerable  curiosity,  since  I  became  ac 
quainted  with  you,  the  other  day,"  observed  our  hero,  at  a 
point  in  the  conversation  when  the  remark  might  seem 
appropriately  introduced,  "  to  know  how  it  could  have  hap 
pened,  that  so  thinking  a  man  a,s  yourself  had  never  learned 
to  read  ? " 


80 


LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 


"  Are  you  quite  certain  I  should  have  been  so  much  of  a 
thinker  as  I  am,  if  I  had  received  a  book-education  ?  "  said 
Bunker,  in  reply. 

"  Your  knowledge  would  have  been  more  extensive,  in  that 
case,  doubtless,  sir ;  and  if  you  had  been  the  worse  thinker 
for  it,  the  fault  would  have  been  your  own,  I  imagine," 
replied  the  other. 

"All  that  may  be,"  remarked  Bunker,  musingly,  "and 
perhaps  it  is  so  —  perhaps  it  is  with  learning,  as  it  is  with 
property,  which  we  never  keep  and  improve  so  well  when 
given  to  us,  or  get  easily,  as  when  it  is  obtained  by  our  own 
exertions  —  by  hard  knocks  and  long  digging.  But  whether 
this  is  so  or  not,  one  thing  to  my  mind  is  certain,  and  that  is, 
that  more  than  half  of  your  great  book-men  are,  after  all, 
but  very  shallow  thinkers  ;  though  the  way  they  dress  up  a 
subject  with  language,  generally  procures  them  the  credit  of 
being  otherwise  ;  for  it  is  curious  enough  to  see  what  a  deal 
.of  real  ignorance  a  few  long  words  and  learned  terms  are 
made  to  conceal." 

"Ay,"  said  Locke,  "but  does  not  your  argument  run 
against  the  abuse  of  learning,  rather  than  its  use  ?  " 

"  Possibly,"  replied  Bunker ;  "  but,  at  any  rate,  I  have 
often  thought,  that  if  I  had  received  an  education  equal  to 
some  of  your  great  scholars,  I  should  have  found  out  rather 
more  than  most  of  them  appear  to  have  done." 

"  Your  impressions,"  rejoined  Locke,  "  are,  I  suspect,  by 
no  means  uncommon.  I  formerly  thought  so  myself;  but 
the  more  I  study,  the  more  I  am  convinced,  that  the  unlearned 
are  accustomed  to  expect  much  more  from  the  learned  than 
they  should  do.  Scholars,  however  profound,  can  never 
discover  what  God  has  purposely  hidden  from  the  human 
mind." 

"  There  may  be  something  in  your  remarks,"  observed  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  81 

other,  "  and  I  will  think  over  the  subject  again.  But  now, 
to  return  to  your  first  question  —  What  was  the  reason  I  had 
never  learned  to  read,  was  it  ?  " 

"  It  was." 

"  Well,  I  will  tell  you  honestly  :  it  was,  first,  total  want 
of  opportunity,  and  then  pride,  till  I  had  got  to  be  so  old  a 
dog,  that  I  thought  I  would  not  attempt  to  learn  any  new 
tricks." 

"  Those  are  rather  unusual  reasons,  for  this  country,  at 
least,  are  they  not  ?  " 

"  They  are  the  true  ones,  in  my  case,  nevertheless.  My 
father  was  a  trapper,  and  pitched  his  cabin  at  the  very  outskirts 
of  civilization,  on  one  of  the  great  rivers  in  Canada,  where 
schools  were  wholly  out  of  the  question ;  —  even  books  were 
so  rare,  that  I  don't  recollect  of  ever  seeing  but  one  during 
the  whole  of  my  boyhood.  That  one  was  my  mother's  old 
worn  and  torn  bible,  which,  at  last,  a  gray  squirrel,  that 
came  in  through  the  roof  of  our  cabin,  one  day  when  we  were 
all  out,  knocked  down  from  a  shelf  into  the  fire,  as  we  con 
cluded,  because  we  saw  him  escaping  with  a  leaf  in  his 
mouth,  to  help  make  his  nest.  This,  as  I  said,  was  the  only 
book  I  remember  to  have  seen ;  and  this  I  should  not  recol 
lect,  probably,  but  for  the  singular  manner  in  which  it  was 
destroyed,  and  the  fact  also  that  my  mother,  when  she  dis 
covered  her  loss,  sat  down  and  cried  like  a  child  —  God  bless 
her  memory  !  —  if  she  had  lived,  she  would  have  got  another, 
and  most  likely  have  taught  me  to  read  it.  But  she  died 
soon  after,  leaving  me,  at  the  age  of  about  five,  to  the  care 
of  an  ignorant  hussy,  that  my  father,  in  due  time,  married. 
Well,  there  I  remained  till  I  was  twenty ;  when  I  left,  and 
found  my  way  into  this  part  of  the  country,  among  people, 
who,  to  my  surprise,  could  all  read  and  write.  I  was  not 
long,  however,  in  discovering,  that  I  was  about  as  ignorant  a 
heathen  as  ever  came  out  of  the  bush.  But,  instead  of  going 


82  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

to  school  as  I  might  and  should  have  done,  I  felt  ashamed  to 
let  people  know  my  condition,  and  so  let  pride  deprive  me 
of  a  blessing  which  I  could  have  easily  obtained.  And  so  it 
continued  with  me,  till  I  married  and  settled  clown  here  on  a 
new  farm  ;  when,  if  the  pride  I  spoke  of  died  away,  its  place 
was  soon  supplied  by  business  cares  and  a  lot  of  little  squall- 
ers,  that  took  away  all  chance  or  thought  of  learning  to  read. 
But,  though  not  able  to  read  myself,  I  can  easily  get  others 
to  do  this  for  me.  And,  late  years,  having  bought  a  good 
many  books  of  different  kinds  for  my  wife  or  boys  to  read  to 
me,  I  have  got,  in  this  way,  and  by  talking  with  book-men 
both  round  home  and  abroad,  a  pretty  tolerable  good  run  of 
most  that  has  been  printed.  And  the  result  has  been,  that  I 
have  been  sadly  disappointed  in  what  I  used  to  suppose  the 
mighty  wisdom  of  books.  To  be  sure,  there  are  many  books 
that  are  full  of  information  and  true  philosophy ;  but  let  me 
tell  you,  sir,  there  is  a  prodigious  sight  of  nonsense  bound 
up  together  in  the  shape  of  books." 

The  dinner  being  now  announced  as  in  readiness,  Locke 
went  out  to  call  in  his  brother,  whom  he  at  length  espied  in 
the  yard  of  a  grist-mill  belonging  to  Bunker,  and  situated  at 
no  great  distance  from  his  house.  Ben  had  here  collected 
round  him  not  only  the  young  Bunkers,  but  several  other 
boys  who  had  come  to  mill  from  different  parts  of  the  dis 
trict  ;  and  he  was  apparently  making  some  communications 
to  them,  to  which  they  were  very  evidently  listening  with 
considerable  interest  and  surprise.  What  might  be  the 
nature  of  his  communication,  however,  Locke,  at  that  time, 
neither  suspected  nor  ascertained,  as  he  did  not  go  near 
enough  to  hear  what  was  said,  and  as  Ben,  when  questioned 
on  the  subject,  after  joining  the  other,  refused  or  evaded  any 
direct  answer. 

As  soon  as  the  brothers  had  finished  the  repast  which  had 
been  prepared  for  them,  Ben  got  up  his  team,  and,  bidding 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  83 

his  brother  "  to  remember  to  put  on  a  stiff  upper  lip  when 
he  went  into  his  school,"-  cracked  his  whip  and  started  off  for 
home. 

The  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  as  Locke  was  about  to 
leave  for  the  school-house,  for  the  commencement  of  his 
task,  Bunker  took  him  aside  :  — 

"  I  should  like  to  ask  you  one  question,  master,"  he  said  ; 
"  and  if  YOU  answer  it  at  all,  which  you  can  do  as  you  like 
about,  I  hope  you  will  do  it  candidly." 

"  Certainly,  I  will,  Mr.  Bunker,"  replied  the  other,  in  some 
surprise. 

"  Well,  I  overheard  my  boys  saying  last  night,  that  your 
brother,  who  came  with  you,  told  them  and  some  others  down 
at  the  mill,  that  you  had  such  a  fiery  and  ungovernable  tem 
per,  that  your  family,  as  well  as  all  the  boys  in  your  neigh 
borhood,  always  run  from  you,  when  you  get  offended  (as 
you  often  do  at  almost  nothing),  lest  you  should  seize  an 
axe  and  split  their  brains  out ;  and  he  begged  of  them,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  not  to  cross  you  in  school,  or  break  any  of 
your  orders  ;  for  if  they  did,  you  would  be  almost  certain  to 
seize  the  shovel  or  a  cleft  of  wood,  and  kill  one  of  them  on 
the  spot ;  and  then  he  should  have  to  see  his  brother  hung 
for  doing  only  what  was  natural  to  him,  and  what  he  could  n't 
help.  Now,  though  I  have  said  nothing,  yet  I  think  I  see 
through  the  object  of  this  story  ;  and  I  want  to  ask  you,  not 
whether  it  is  true  —  for  I  think  it  must  be  all  humbug  —  but 
whether  you  put  your  brother  up  to  this  little  plot,  or  whether 
it  was  one  of  his  own  hatching  ?  " 

"  It  was  one  solely  of  his  own  contriving,  and  used  without 
my  knowledge  or  consent,"  replied  Locke,  promptly. 

"  I  am  glad  of  it,"  rejoined  Bunker  ;  "  for,  though  there 
would  have  been  nothing  very  criminal  in  such  a  course,  yet, 
I  confess,  it  would  have  lowered  you  in  my  opinion.  It  was 
well  enough  in  such  a  chick  as  I  suspect  your  brother  to  be; 


84  LOCKE    AM3DKN,    Oli 

and  I  have  concluded  to  have  it  go,  for  the  present,  just  as 
he  left  it ;  for  there  is  no  knowing  how  much  it  may  help 
you  in  keeping  the  boys  under.  So  I  advise  you  to  keep 
your  own  counsel,  go  to  your  school,  be  decided,  but  treat 
your  scholars  like  men  and  women,  and  not  like  slaves  or 
senseless  puppets,  as  some  of  our  masters  have  done,  to  their 
own  sorrow,  I  think.  Do  this,  and  I  presume  you  will  have 
no  trouble  in  managing  them.  But  whatever  method  you 
may  take  to  govern  them,  be  sure  that  you  make  them  good 
thinkers." 

On  reaching  the  school-house,  where  he  found  most  of  the 
pupils  assembled,  Locke  soon  saw  indications,  which  con 
vinced  him,  that  Ben's  bugbear  representations,  which  had 
been  made  with  so  much  address  and  apparent  honesty  that 
the  truth  of  them  seems  not  to  have  been  doubted,  were 
already  known  to  every  individual  in  school ;  and  that,  in 
consequence,  he  had  become,  with  the  younger  portion  of 
them  especially,  the  object  of  a  terror  which  he  little  thought 
it  would  ever  be  his  lot  to  inspire.  This,  indeed,  was  plainly 
discoverable  the  first  moment  he  entered  the  house ;  for 
coming  among  them  somewhat  unexpectedly,  while  his  fan 
cied  traits  of  character  were  under  discussion,  they  scattered 
for  their  seats  with  nearly  as  much  haste  and  trepidation,  as 
they  would  have  shown  had  a  dangerous  wild  beast  walked 
into  the  room.  And,  in  two  minutes,  all  was  so  still,  that 
not  a  sound,  unless  it  was  the  beating  of  the  hearts  of  the 
more  timid,  could  be  heard  in  the  apartment.  Nor  did 
the  vivid  impressions  of  their  new  master's  severity, 
which  had  thus  oddly  been  received  by  the  scholars,  and 
which  had  fairly  frightened  them  into  such  unwonted  still 
ness,  prove  of  so  temporary  a  character  as  he  expected. 
And  often  during  the  day,  while  arranging  his  classes  or 
attending  to  the  ordinary  duties  of  the  school,  he  scarcely 
knew  whether  lie  felt  most  secret  amusement  or  pity  at  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  85 

evident  sensations  of  many  around  him,  as  he  observed  with 
what  trembling  anxiety  his  movements  were  watched,  and 
saw  how  many  furtive  and  expressive  glances  were  cast  at 
his  face,  in  which,  as  their  excited  imaginations  then  pictured 
him,  they  appeared  to  read  that  which  put  all  thoughts  of 
roguery  or  misbehavior  to  instant  flight.  All  this,  to  be  sure, 
had  reference  mainly  to  the  younger  portion  of  the  pupils. 
The  older  part,  it  is  true,  though  their  demeanor  was  marked 
by  a  respectful  quietness,  appeared  rather  to  be  debating  in 
their  minds  the  expediency  of  taking  their  former  courses,  than 
entertaining  any  particular  alarms  for  themselves,  while  their 
behavior  should  be,  to  a  decent  degree,  orderly.  And  during 
the  intermissions  of  the  first  two  or  three  days,  little  groups 
of  the  usually  insubordinate  might  have  been  seen  engaged 
in  discussing  the  momentous  question,  how  far  it  might  be 
safe  or  feasible  to  attempt  to  subjugate  the  master,  in  the 
same  way  they  had  several  of  his  predecessors.  In  all  these 
consultations,  however,  Tom  Bunker,  whom  his  father  had 
secretly  engaged  to  take  Locke's  part  in  case  of  trouble, 
unexpectedly  hung  back,  telling  them  they  could  do  as  they 
pleased  ;  but  perhaps  they  would  find  out,  that  they  had 
better  let  the  man  alone.  This  coming,  as  it  did,  from  their 
acknowledged  champion,  and  one  who  had  generally  acted  as 
ringleader  in  their  former  outbreaks  against  their  teachers, 
not  a  little  dampened  the  ardor  of  the  advocates  of  rebellion. 
And  after  a  few  idle  threats  and  expressions  of  defiance, 
thrown  out  by  the  way  of  warding  off  any  imputations  which 
might  be  made  on  their  courage  for  retreating  from  their  posi 
tion,  they  finally  relinquished  their  designs  on  the  master,  and 
concluded  to  submit  to  his  authority,  at  least  till  he  became 
the  aggressor,  in  those  acts  of  tyranny  that  they  expected  he 
would  ere  long  exhibit  towards  them.  The  movements  of 
the  latter,  therefore,  were  watched  with  no  less  silent  suspi 
cion  by  the  larger,  than  with  fear  by  the  smaller  pupils, 


86  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OK 

during  the  first  week  of  his  school.  Perceiving  all  this,  he 
very  wisely  shaped  his  course  for  establishing  his  authority 
on  a  more  permanent  foundation  than  can  ever  be  raised  in 
feelings  where  fear  alone  is  the  governing  principle.  While 
dignity  and  decision  of  manner  marked  his  conduct  in  enforc 
ing  good  order  in  school,  he  yet  made  kindness  and  courtesy 
to  characterize  his  general  demeanor  towards  all  his  scholars. 
This  course  he  adoptee!  no  less  from  the  suggestions  of  his 
own  mind,  drawn  from  the  remembrance  of  the  effect  which 
kindness  and  respect  in  a  teacher  always  produced  on  his 
feelings  when  he  himself  was  a  pupil,  than  from  the  recom 
mendation  of  Bunker,  "to  treat  his  scholars  like  men  and 
women." 

The  sentiment  of  the  last-named  person  on  this  subject  is 
indeed  one  well  deserving  of  the  consideration  of  all  instruc 
tors  of  youth.  Few  teachers  seem  to  be  aware  what  a  just 
estimate  children  put  upon  manners  —  how  quickly  they  pass 
a  sentence  of  condemnation  on  all  that  is  coarse,  contemptu 
ous,  or  unfeeling,  .and  how  soon  they  appreciate  every  thing 
that  denotes  respect  and  kindness  towards  them.  If  teachers 
would  properly  consider  this,  they  would  find  less  difficulty, 
perhaps,  in  accounting  for  the  little  influence  which  they  often 
find  themselves  capable  of  exercising  over  the  minds  of  their 
pupils  :  for  almost  as  certain  as  one  pursues  the  first-named 
course  of  conduct  towards  them,  will  his  precepts  be  rejected  ; 
while  the  precepts  of  him  who  exhibits  the  last-mentioned 
conduct  will  be  readily  received,  and  treasured  up  for  im 
provement. 

And  such  was  the  effect  of  the  kind  and  judicious  manner 
which  Locke  displayed  among  the  rough  and  uncultured 
pupils  he  had  undertaken  to  control.  When  they  saw,  that, 
instead  of  turning  out  the  cruel  and  capricious  tyrant  they 
had  expected,  he  wanted  nothing  of  them  but  what  their  own 
consciences  told  them  was  just  and  reasonable,  and  especially 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  87 

when  they  found  themselves  uniformly  treated  with  such  re 
spectful  courtesy,  when  their  behavior  was  not  exceptionable, 
all  the  mingled  feelings  of  hatred,  fear,  and  suspicion,  with 
which  they  had  armed  themselves  in  anticipation  of  an  oppo 
site  treatment,  rapidly  melted  into  an  affectionate  reverence, 
that  not  only  destroyed,  in  most  of  them,  all  inclination  for 
insubordinate  conduct,  but  made  them  anxious  to  gain  his 
approbation ;  the  more  particularly  so,  doubtless,  from  the 
belief  they  still  entertained,  that  his  displeasure  would  be 
attended  with  fearful  consequences  to  themselves. 

The  iirst  object  of  our  instructor,  that  of  gaining  willing 
ears  for  what  he  wished  to  impart,  was  now,  to  a  good  de 
gree,  accomplished.  And  no  sooner  had  he  made  sure  of 
this  important  point,  than  he  began  to  redouble  his  exertions 
to  rouse  their  minds  from  that  cold  and  listless  intellectual 
condition  in  which  they  were  unconsciously  sunk,  and  which 
caused  them  to  look  upon  learning  and  all  attempts  at 
mental  excellence  as  a  mere  matter  of  secondary  concern. 
This  he  did,  not  so  much  by  general  exhortation  (for  he  well 
knew  that  scholars  generally  hate  preaching  masters),  as  by 
what  logicians  call  arguments  ad  hominem,  addressing  the 
self-love  of  one,  the  vanity  of  another,  the  curiosity  of  a 
third,  arid  so  on ;  the  dispositions  of  each  having  been  pre 
viously  studied  for  the  purpose.  In  fine,  he  adopted  almost 
as  many  expedients  as  he  had  pupils,  in  inciting  them  to 
push  forward  in  their  particular  studies,  and  in  awakening 
in  their  bosoms  a  love  of  learning.  And,  in  doing  this,  he 
also  labored  incessantly,  with  argument,  ridicule,  and  such 
familiar  illustrations  as  they  could  best  understand  and 
appreciate,  in  showing  them  the  superiority  of  mind  over 
matter,  or  mere  physical  powers ;  and  in  setting  up  the  true 
standard  of  excellence  among  them,  instead  of  the  false  one, 
to  attain  to  which  seemed  hitherto  to  have  been  the  only 
object  of  their  emulation.  The  happy  results  of  these  well- 


88  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

directed  exertions  were  soon  apparent.  The  exploits  of  the 
wrestling  ring,  the  leaping  match,  and  other  of  the  rough 
athletics,  in  which  it  had  been  their  chief  pride  to  excel, 
were  no  longer  the  main  topic  of  conversation ;  and  the 
feats  of  bullies  and  hectoring  blades,  exercised  upon  school 
masters,  ministers,  and  deacons,  were  no  longer  considered  a 
matter  of  boasting.  The  keen  interest  formerly  manifested 
on  all  these  subjects,  indeed,  had  so  sensibly  declined,  that 
they  were  now  seldom  mentioned.  But  in  their  place  were 
heard,  both  during  the  intermissions  of  school,  and  the 
evenings  spent  at  home,  almost  nothing  but  talk  of  studies, 
anecdotes  of  the  school,  or  the  discussion  of  the  arithmetical 
puzzles,  and  the  various  interesting  and  curious  questions 
relative  to  the  phenomena  of  nature,  which  the  teacher  was 
in  the  habit  of  putting  out,  with  which  to  exercise  the  minds 
of  his  pupils.  The  parents  of  the  district  witnessed  this 
change  in  their  children  with  no  less  surprise  than  pleasure, 
and  wondered  by  what  magic  it  could  have  been  effected. 
Bunker,  the  committee-man,  daily  grew  proud  of  his  selec 
tion  of  a  teacher,  and  declared  he  had  already  done  more 
towards  making  good  thinkers  of  his  scholars  than  any  of 
their  former  instructors  had  done  in  a  whole  winter.  In 
short,  before  two  weeks  had  elapsed,  the  whole  Horn-of- 
the-Moon  was  ringing  with  praises  of  the  new  master. 

But  although  young  Amsden's  school  was  fast  becoming 
what  he  had  so  sedulously  labored  to  make  it,  and  although 
his  pupils  had  generally,  since  the  expiration  of  the  first 
half  week  of  their  attendance,  so  far  shown  themselves 
disposed  to  obedience  and  propriety  of  behavior,  as  led  him 
to  believe  that  no  attempt  would  now  be  made  to  resist  his 
orders,  yet  it  was  not  long  before  he  found  he  should  not  be 
permitted  to  avoid  the  test  to  which  a  master's  firmness  and 
discretion  are  almost  invariably  put,  in  maintaining  his  au 
thority,  at  some  period  or  other  of  his  school. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  89 

This  period,  wliich  forms  a  sort  of  crisis  in  the  teacher's 
government,  resulting  either  in  its  overthrow,  or  in  its  estab 
lishment  on  a  permanent  basis,  generally  occurs  about  the  third 
week  of  the  school.  After  the  first  few  days  of  the  school, 
during  which  the  restraints  which  scholars  feel  under  a  new 
master,  or  the  fears  they  may  entertain  of  his  yet  untried 
spirit  and  promptitude  in  administering  punishment,  usually 
keep  them  quiet  and  orderly,  they  begin  to  take  liberties ; 
though  at  first  of  so  trivial  a  character,  that  a  teacher,  not 
finding  in  them  any  particular  cause  of  complaint,  suffers 
them  to  pass  unnoticed.  From  this,  the  more  evil-disposed 
go  on  crowding,  crowding  a  little,  and  a  little  more,  upon  his 
authority,  till  they  get  so  bold  that  he  finds  the  most  de 
cisive  measures  will  alone  save  his  dominion  from  a  total 
overthrow. 

Something  like  this  was  the  process  which  Locke  had 
perceived  going  on  in  his  school,  without  knowing  exactly 
where  to  interpose  his  authority ;  when  one,  a  boy  of  about 
fourteen,  who  had  been  more  forward  than  others  in  the 
course,  one  day  grew  so  bold  as  to  place  his  orders  at  abso 
lute  defiance.  Perceiving  at  once  that  his  government  was 
at  an  end,  unless  the  offender  was  conquered,  and  indignant 
at  his  unexpected  audacity,  our  hero,  under  the  impulse  of 
the  moment,  was  about  to  chastise  him  on  the  spot.  A  second 
thought,  however,  told  him  that  he  was  too  much  irritated 
to  do  this  now  with  the  best  effect  on  the  offender,  or  on 
others  inclined  to  become  so  ;  and  he  accordingly  apprised 
the  boy  of  the  reason  for  deferring  his  punishment,  but  prom 
ised  him,  at  the  same  time,  that  punishment  would  certainly 
follow.  Although  this  act  of  disobedience  was  not  instigated 
by  any  one,  even  by  those  from  whom  he  had  most  reason 
to  apprehend  difficulties,  yet  either  that,  or  the  threatened 
chastisement,  seemed  to  produce  considerable  sensation 
among  them,  by  awakening,  perhaps,  remembrances  of  their 
8* 


90  LOCKE    AMSDKN,    OH 

old  fracases  in  resisting  their  teachers  on  similar  occasions, 
and  in  exciting  in  some  degree  their  sleeping  inclinations  to 
take  some  such  part  when  the  punishment  of  the  present 
offender  should  be  inflicted.  In  addition  to  these  suspi 
cious  appearances,  he  noticed,  after  his  school  was  dismissed 
for  the  day,  considerable  mysterious  whispering  among  two 
or  three  of  those  just  mentioned,  and  overheard  one  of 
them,  a  relative  of  the  offender,  trying  to  excite  the  others 
to  join  him  in  preventing  the  threatened  punishment,  which 
they  supposed  would  take  place  on  the  opening  of  the  school 
the  next  morning.  But  our  hero,  unmoved  by  these  unex 
pected  and  somewhat  ominous  demonstrations,  resolved  to  go 
resolutely  forward  and  do  his  duty,  whatever  might  be  the 
consequences  to  himself.  On  his  way  homeward,  however, 
while  reflecting  upon  the  subject  of  school -punishment,  its 
object,  and  the  most  effective  manner  of  administering  it  to 
obtain  that  object,  he  began  seriously  to  doubt  the  wisdom 
and  expediency  of  the  custom  which  he  had  always  witnessed, 
and  which  he  had  proposed  to  follow  in  the  present  case,  — 
that  of  inflicting  chastisements  in  open  school.  He  reasoned, 
and  from  a  just  notion  of  the  human  heart  too,  that  the 
presence  of  companions,  whom  the  delinquent  knew  to  be 
looking  on  to  see  with  what  spirit  he  bore  up  under  the 
operation,  that  they  might  afterwards  praise  him  for  the 
spunk  he  exhibited,  or  taunt  him  for  his  weakness  if  he  was 
seen  to  succumb,  would  in  most  instances  have  a  tendency 
to  arm  him  with  feelings  of  pride  and  obstinacy,  which 
would  not  only  destroy  all  the  beneficial  effects  to  be  gained 
from  the  punishment,  but  often  make  him  more  obdurate  than 
before.  So  strongly,  indeed,  did  these  considerations  weigh 
on  the  mind  of  Locke,  that  he  at  length  determined  to  adopt 
a  different  mode  of  punishing  the  boy  in  question ;  and  after 
trying  to  judge  of  his  own  feelings,  were  he  placed  in  the 
offender's  situation,  as  to  what  course  would  most  conduce  to 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  91 

that  penitence  and  humility  best  calculated  for  amendment, 
and  calling  to  mind  all  he  had  ever  observed  of  the  effects 
of  punishment  on  others,  he  at  last  hit  on  a  plan  which 
he  determined  to  carry  into  immediate  execution.  Accord 
ingly,  after  obtaining  his  supper,  he  repaired  at  once  to  the 
culprit's  residence,  and,  taking  his  father  aside,  made  known 
the  boy's  conduct,  the  absolute  necessity  of  his  punishment, 
and  gave  his  reasons  for  wishing  to  inflict  that  punishment 
in  private ;  ending  with  a  request,  that  the  other  should  call 
out  his  boy,  and  that  they  all  three  should  repair  together  to 
the  school-house  for  the  purpose  he  had  mentioned. 

"  Why,  the  boy  deserves  a  basting  richly  enough,  no 
doubt,"  observed  the  father ;  "  yes,  and  a  good  one  too.  And, 
if  I  was  you,  I  would  give  it  to  him.  But  what  on  earth  do 
you  want  my  help  in  flogging  him  for  ?  Why,  that  is  part 
of  what  we  are  paying  you  for,  I  take  it,  master." 

"  I  wish  for  no  help  in  the  mere  chastisement,"  replied 
Locke ;  "  but  I  think  your  presence  would  add  much  to  its 
beneficial  effects,  and  it  is  only  for  your  son's  good  that  I 
request  you  to  go." 

"  Well,  well,"  rejoined  the  former,  "  if  you  think  it  will  do 
the  boy  any  good,  —  and  I  don't  know  but  you  are  half  right 
about  it ;  for  I  think  if  I  was  a  boy,  I  should  dislike  most 
confoundedly  to  be  licked  by  a  schoolmaster  before  my 
father  —  if  you  think  this,  why,  I  will  go  with  you  ;  but  I 
kinder  hate  to,  that's  a  fact." 

His  reluctance  having  been  thus  wisely  overcome,  the  fa 
ther  promptly  called  out  his  boy,  who,  not  daring  to  disobey 
the  command  which  was  then  given  him,  followed  the  two 
others,  in  dogged  silence,  to  the  school-house.  On  reaching 
the  house,  which,  as  expected  and  desired,  was  entirely 
solitary,  Locke  raised  a  light,  and  proceeded  to  the  painful 
task  before  him.  He  first  kindly  addressed  the  offender;  and, 
in  a  manner  calculated  to  humble  without  irritating,  set  forth 


92  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

the  probable  consequences,  both  to  him  and  the  school,  of 
suffering  his  offence  to  pass  without  punishment,  which  he 
had  been  called  there  to  receive,  and  then  administered  a 
chastisement  of  adequate  severity.  After  this,  he  was  again 
addressed  by  his  teacher,  the  father  occasionally  putting  in  a 
word,  for  nearly  an  hour,  before  the  expiration  of  which  he 
gave  unequivocal  evidence  of  not  only  being  deeply  penitent 
for  the  past,  but  resolved  on  good  behavior  for  the  future. 

While  so  many  alterations  and  improvements  have  been 
made  in  the  education  and  management  of  children  and 
youth  at  school,  it  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  so  little 
variation  has  taken  place  in  the  mode  and  character  of  school 
punishments,  which,  with  some  slight  abatement,  perhaps,  in 
degree  and  frequency,  have  remained  nearly  the  same  since 
the  days  of  King  Solomon,  who  had  a  wondrous  high  opinion, 
it  will  be  recollected,  of  the  virtues  of  the  rod.  From  nearly 
all  our  civil  codes,  instituted  for  the  government  of  men, 
whipping,  for  the  punishment  of  offences,  has  been  repudi 
ated,  as  not  only  barbarous,  but  calculated  to  harden  rather 
than  amend;  and  confinement  in  prison,  or  other  punishment, 
substituted.  Is  the  distinction  which  is  thus  kept  up  between 
the  government  of  men  and  children,  made  because  the 
young  are  more  obdurate  than  the  old  ?  Certainly  not ;  for 
the  reverse  of  this  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  fact.  Is  it, 
then,  because  a  similar  change  in  the  government  of  schools 
is  impracticable  ?  "We  understand  not  why  this  should  be  ; 
since,  if  expulsions  or  degradations  would  not  effect  the 
object,  rooms  for  solitary  confinement  might  easily  be  pro 
vided  for  every  school-house,  and  the  delinquent  imprisoned 
till  he  would  be  glad  to  purchase  liberty  by  amendment. 
There  may  be  sound  reasons  for  the  distinction  we  have 
mentioned,  but  we  confess  we  are  unable  to  discover  them. 

But  suppose  we  admit,  that  the  punishment  of  whipping 
is  sometimes  indispensable  for  insuring  obedience  and  order 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  93 

in  school,  is  there  not  room  for  improvement  both  in  the 
frequency  and  manner  of  its  application  ?  Nothing  has  a 
greater  tendency  to  brutalize  the  feelings,  to  deaden  all 
the  best  sensibilities  of  the  heart,  than  frequent  repetitions 
of  this  questionable  .practice.  If  it  must  be  resorted  to,  let 
it  be  seldom  ;  and  then,  for  reasons  before  suggested,  let  it 
be  done  in  private,  and,  if  possible,  in  the  presence  of  a 
parent.  If  thus  done,  unless  we  have  read  in  vain  the 
young  heart,  its  restraining  fears,  and  its  keen  and  over 
powering  sense  of  guilt  and  shame,  when  conscious  that 
there  is  no  one  present  to  uphold  and  countenance  it  in 
error,  rare  indeed  will  be  the  cases  in  which  a  repetition  of 
the  punishment  will  ever  be  found  necessary. 

The  scholars,  the  next  morning,  assembled  under  the 
expectation  that  the  business  of  the  day  would  be  opened  by 
the  promised  punishment  of  the  culprit  of  yesterday.  But 
when  they  perceived  that  no  movement  of  the  kind  was 
likely  to  be  made,  and  especially  when  they  noticed  the 
altered  demeanor  of  the  boy,  whose  whole  appearance,  in 
stead  of  the  brazen  looks  which  he  wore  on  leaving  school 
the  preceding  evening,  now  indicated  the  deepest  humility, 
their  disappointment  was  equalled  only  by  their  surprise.  It 
was  evident  enough  to  them,  that  something  had  occurred  to 
effect  this  unexpected  alteration  of  circumstances.  But  what 
tliis  was,  they  were  wholly  at  a  loss  to  conjecture.  And,  as 
the  boy,  when  they  went  out,  either  avoided  them  or  evaded 
their  questions,  the  mystery  was  not  solved  till  one  of  the 
boys,  who  had  been  home  for  his  dinner,  accidentally  got 
hold  of  the  truth,  and  hastened  back  to  impart  the  important 
news  to  his  companions. 

"  Hurra !  boys,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  came  puffing  up  to  a 
group  assembled  in  the  school-house  yard  to  discuss  the 
subject  anew  before  entering  the  school  for  the  afternoon, 
"  hurra !  boys,  I  have  found  out  all  about  it,  now." 


94  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  Plow  was  it,  —  how  was  it?"  asked  a  dozen  eager  voices 
at  once. 

"  I  '11  tell  ye,"  replied  the  boy,  lowering  his  voice,  and  as 
suming  a  look  of  awe,  as  he  thought  of  what  he  was  about  to 
relate.  "  They  took  him — that  is,  his  father  and  the  master  — 
they  took  him  last  night  here  to  the  school-house  —  only 
think  of  that,  all  alone  in  the  night !  —  and  then  the  master 
gave  him,  I  do  spose,  one  of  the  terriblest  hidings  that  ever 
was  heard  of." 

"  What !  right  afore  his  father  ?  "  exclaimed  several  of  the 
older  boys,  evidently  surprised  and  disconcerted  to  hear  of 
this  new  mode  of  punishment,  which  might  soon  be  adopted 
in  their  own  cases. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  former.  "  and  then  kept  him  half  the 
night,  forzino,  talking  to  him  like  a  minister,  till  he  most  cried 
himself  to  death,  they  said.  How  awful!  wa'nt  it,  now?" 

"  Why,  I  rather  he  'd  a  killed  me,"  responded  one  of  the 
former,  in  which  he  seemed  to  be  joined  by  both  old  and 
young ;  all  of  whom,  for  different  reasons,  saw  much  to  dis 
like  and  dread  in  the  picture. 

"  Well,  I  give  in  beat,"  observed  the  young  bully,  who,  as 
before  intimated,  was  meditating  resistance  to  the  punish 
ment  in  question ;  "  somehow,  I  can't  get  the  hang  of  this 
new  master.  He  does  every  thing  so  different  from  what  a 
fellow  is  looking  for ;  and  I  have  about  concluded  we  may  as 
well  mind  our  own  business,  and  let  him  alone." 

"  So,  Mike,  you  have  come  to  my  opinion  at  last,  have 
you  ?  "  said  Tom  Bunker,  who  had  been  listening  in  silence. 
"  Now  I  have  said  but  little  about  this  affair,  from  first  to 
last;  and  if  you  had  had  a  chance  to  go  on  with  the  shine 
you  was  thinking  of,  I  can't  say  what  part  I  should  have 
taken,  if  the  master  had  needed  help ;  but  I  want  to  tell  you 
I  think  he  has  used  us  all  like  a  gentleman,  and  I  would  fight 
for  him.  And  now,  Mike,  what  do  you  say  to  backing  him 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  95 

up  in  keeping  order,  and  using  him  as  he  wants  to  use  us, 
for  the  rest  of  the  winter  ?  " 

"That  is  what  I  have  been  thinking  of  myself — I  am 
agreed,"  answered  Mike. 

"  Well,  then,  boys,"  rejoined  Tom,  "  let  us  all  hands  now 
into  the  house  for  our  books ;  and  the  one  that  learns  the 
most,  and  behaves  the  best,  shall  be  the  best  fellow." 

The  crisis  had  passed.  In  the  defeat  of  this  last  and  im 
potent  attempt  to  break  down  the  authority  of  our  school 
master,  his  triumph  was  completed.  All  seemed  to  under 
stand  this ;  and,  for  the  remainder  of  the  season,  no  school 
could  have  been  more  distinguished  for  good  order  and 
obedience. 

All  troubles  in  regard  to  government  being  now  at  an  end, 
and  no  others  being  anticipated  by  Locke,  he  urged  his 
pupils  forward  in  their  studies  with  all  the  incitements  he 
could  command.  But  even  this  may  sometimes,  perhaps,  be 
carried  too  far.  At  all  events,  he  was  accused  of  so  doing, 
in  connection  with  an  event  which  soon  occurred,  and  which 
came  near  breaking  up  his  school.  But  the  relation  of  this 
unexpected  and  painful  incident,  we  will  reserve  for  a  new 
chapter. 


CHAPTER    V. 

"  So  swift  the  ill  —  of  such  mysterious  kind, 
That  fear  with  pity  mingled  in  each  mind.'" 

CBABBE. 

IT  was  near  the  middle  of  the  dark  and  dreary  season 
which  characterizes  our  northern  clime.  Old  Winter  had 
taken  his  January  nap.  And  having  protracted  longer  than 
usual  his  cold,  sweaty  slumbers,  he  had  now,  as  if  to  make 
amends  for  his  remissness,  aroused  himself  with  a  rage  and 
fury  which  seemed  to  show  his  determination  to  expel  the 
last  vestige  of  his  antagonistic  element,  heat,  that  had  thus 
invaded  and  for  a  while  disarmed  him,  for  ever  from  his  do 
minions.  The  whole  season,  indeed,  to  drop  the  metaphori 
cal  for  plain  language,  had  been  one  of  uncommon  mildness. 
A  warm  and  broken  December  had  been  succeeded  by  a  still 
warmer  and  more  thawy  January.  And  so  little  had  people 
been  made  aware  of  the  presence  of  winter  thus  far,  that 
their  doors  were  often  left  open,  and  small  fires  only  were 
either  used  or  required.  But  the  cold  weather  now  set  in 
with  intense  severity,  and  compelled  all  to  keep  tightly  closed 
doors  and  roaring  fires. 

The  school-house,  which  we  have  been  for  some  time 
making  the  scene  of  action,  had  been  built  the  preceding  fall ; 
and  the  interior,  consequently,  had  been  freshly  plastered ; 
while  the  wood-work  of  the  doors  and  windows,  already  tight 
before  from  its  newness,  had  been  swollen  by  the  recent 
thawy  weather ;  so  that  the  whole  room,  by  this,  and  the 
finishing  operation  of  the  frost  in  closing  up  the  remaining 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  97 

interstices,  had  been  made  almost  wholly  impervious  to  the 
admission  of  any  fresh  air  from  without.  From  this,  how 
ever,  no  evil  consequences,  owing  to  the  mildness  of  the 
season,  and  the  attendant  circumstances  we  have  mentioned, 
had  resulted  to  the  school.  But  scarcely  a  week  had  elapsed, 
after  the  change  of  weather  just  described,  before  the  schol 
ars,  though  apparently  much  enjoying  the  contrasted  comforts 
of  their  tight,  stove-heated  room,  while  the  cold,  savage 
blasts  could  be  heard  raging  and  howling  without,  became 
very  visibly  affected.  A  livid  paleness  overspread  their  fea 
tures  ;  while  their  every  appearance  and  movement  indicated 
great  and  increasing  languor  and  feebleness.  The  general 
health  of  the  school,  in  short,  including  that  of  the  master, 
seemed  to  be  rapidly  failing.  These  indications  were  soon 
followed  by  several  instances  of  so  great  illness  as  to  confine 
its  victims  to  their  homes,  and  even  to  their  beds.  Among 
the  latter  was  the  case  of  the  only  son  and  child  of  a  poor, 
but  pious  and  intelligent  widow,  by  the  name  of  Marvin, 
which  excited  in  the  bosom  of  Locke  feelings  of  the  deepest 
sorrow  for  the  misfortune  of  the  boy,  and  sympathy  in  the 
affliction  of  his  doating  parent.  And  it  was  not  without 
reason  that  both  teacher  and  parent  were  touched  with  pecu 
liar  grief  on  the  occasion ;  for  the  boy,  who  was  about  ten 
years  old,  was  not  only  kind  and  amiable  in  disposition,  but 
a  very  excellent  scholar.  And  now,  almost  for  the  first  time, 
having  the  advantages  of  good  instruction,  and  his  ambition 
and  natural  love  of  learning  having  been  kindled  into  enthu 
siasm  by  the  various  incitements  held  out  to  him  by  his 
instructor,  with  whom  he  had  become  a  secret  favorite,  he 
pursued  his  studies  with  an  ardor  and  assiduity  which  knew 
no  relaxation.  And  having  made  surprising  progress  in 
grammar,  during  the  few  weeks  the  school  had  kept,  he  had 
recently  solicited  and  obtained  leave  to  commence  arithmetic, 
to  which  he  was  giving  his  whole  heart  and  soul,  when  he 
9 


98  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

was  thus  snatched  from  his  engrossing  pursuit  by  the  hand 
of  sickness. 

These  cases  of  sickness,  and  especially  the  more  serious 
one  of  the  good  and  studious  little  Henry,  the  boy  we  have 
particularized,  produced  much  sensation  in  the  neighborhood. 
And  the  cause,  not  only  of  these  instances  of  absolute  illness, 
but  of  the  altered  and  sickly  appearance  of  the  whole  school, 
which  now  excited  observation  and  uneasiness,  began  to  be 
generally  discussed.     As  no  epidemic  was  prevailing  in  the 
country,  and  as   all  other  schools  in  the  vicinity,  as  far  as 
could  be  heard  from,  were   even  unusually  healthy,  it  was 
soon  concluded  that  the  present  unhealthiness  must  be  occa 
sioned  by  something  wrong  about  the  school-house,  or  in  the 
manner  of   conducting  the   school.     And  as  nothing  amiss 
could  possibly  be  perceived  in  the   school-house,  which  all 
pronounced  warm  and  comfortable,  it  was  settled  that  the 
fault,  of  course,  must  be  looked  for  in  the  master.     Some 
averred  that  the  latter,  b}r  undue  severity,  or  by  some  other 
means,  had  broken  down  the  spirit  of  his  scholars,  which  had 
caused  them  to  become    melancholy,  drooping,  and  sickly. 
Others  said  that  he  had  made  the  scholars  study  so  hard, 
that  it  had  caused  their  health  to  give  way  under  the  tasks 
which  they  were  induced,  through  fear,  or  some  mysterious 
influence  he  had  obtained  over  their  minds,  to  perform.    And 
there  were  yet  others  who  carried  still  farther  the  idea  thrown 
out  by  those  last  named,  and  contended  that  the  master  must 
have  resorted  to  some  unlawful  art  or  power,  which  he  had 
exercised  upon  his  pupils,  not  only  to  subjugate  them,  but 
somehow  to  give  them  an  unnatural  thirst  for  their  studies, 
and  as  unnatural  a  power  of  mastering  them.     In  proof  of 
this,  one  man  cited  the  instance  of  his  son,  who,  having  be 
come  half-crazed  on    his  arithmetic,  and  having  worked  all 
one  evening  on  a  sum  which  he  could   not  do,  went  to  bed, 
leaving  his  slate  upon  the,  table,  but  rose  some  time  in  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  99 

night  in  liis  sleep,  actually  worked  out  the  answer,  returned 
to  bed,  wholly  unconscious  of  what  he  had  done,  and  slept 
till  morning,  when  he  found,  to  his  surprise,  the  whole  process, 
in  his  own  figures,  upon  the  slate.*  This  incident,  however 
little  it  might  have  had  to  do,  in  the  minds  of  others,  in  prov 
ing  the  position  it  wras  cited  to  sustain,  seemed  to  go  far  with 
these  people  in  confirming  the  strange  notion  they  were  be 
ginning  to  conceive,  that  the  master  had  brought  some  unnat 
ural  influence  to  bear  upon  his  pupils.  And  when  they 
compared  the  wild,  thoughtless,  and  unstudious  conduct  which 
had  ever  characterized  the  scholars  before,  with  their  present 
greatly  altered  behavior,  and  the  eager  diligence  with  which 
many  of  them,  both  day  and  night,  pursued  their  studies, 
particularly  mathematical  studies,  they  mysteriously  shook 
their  heads,  and  said  "  they  did  n't  know  about  these  things  ; 
such  a  change  might  have  come  in  a  natural  way,  but  they 
could  n't  understand  it."  It  was  agreed  on  all  hands,  they 
further  argued,  that  the  master  was  deep  in  figures.  Capt. 
Bunker,  who  was  considered  the  best  natural  reckoner  in 
those  parts,  had  confessed  that  he  could  n't  hold  a  candle  to 
him  in  that  respect.  They  had  always  heard  that  strange 
things  could  be  done  with  figures,  if  a  person  sought  to  do 
so.  Indeed,  there  was  a  certain  point  in  figures,  they  sup 
posed,  beyond  which,  if  a  person  persisted  in  going,  he  was 
sure  to  have  help  from  one  who  should  be  nameless,  but  who 
always  exacted  his  pay  for  his  assistance.  They  hoped  this 
was  not  the  case  with  their  master ;  but  if  it  was,  and  he 
was  trying  to  lead  his  scholars  into  the  same  forbidden  paths, 
it  was  no  wonder  that  they  had  such  strange,  blue  looks ; 
nor  was  it  at  all  surprising  that  sickness  should  come  upon 

*  This  incident,  improbable  as  it  may  appear  to  some,  is  a  true  one, 
having  occurred  within  the  knowledge  of  the  author,  who  otherwise 
would  not  have  ventured  on  relating  it. 


100  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

them,  as  a  judgment.  And  they  again  shook  their  heads, 
and  said  "  it  was  high  time  that  something  should  he  done." 

Let  it  not  be  inferred,  that  we  would  convey  the  idea,  that 
the  people  of  the  country  in  which  our  scene  is  laid  were 
generally  as  superstitious  as  some  of  the  circumstances  here 
represented  to  have  taken  place  might  seem  to  imply.  They 
certainly  were  not  so.  And  comparatively  few  locations,  we 
presume,  could  have  been  found,  where  such  arguments  as 
we  have  put  into  the  mouths  of  some  of  the  good  people  of 
this  uncultured  district,  would  have  been  listened  to  a  mo 
ment.  But  our  observations,  made  during  considerable 
travel  and  intercourse  among  the  common  classes  of  people 
in  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  have  apprised  us,  that 
instances  of  the  prevalence  of  notions  similar  to  those  just 
mentioned  are  still  to  be  found,  and  much  oftener,  too.  than 
we  had  formerly  supposed.  We  have  often  come  across 
isolated  neighborhoods,  even  in  the  heart  of  intelligent  com 
munities,  where,  to  our  surprise,  we  found  all  the  exploded 
notions  of  witchcraft,  sorcery,  divination,  and  the  like,  still 
entertained  ;  and  to  an  extent,  indeed,  that  led  us  almost  to 
doubt  whether  we  had  not,  by  some  miracle  or  other,  been 
carried  back  a  century  and  a  half,  and  set  down  among  a 
clan  of  the  immediate  disciples  of  old  Cotton  Mather,  who 
spent  so  much  time  and  learning  in  making  mystery  and 
mischief  about  things  which  have  no  existence,  except  in 
imagination.  Such  a  neighborhood,  with  a  few  honorable 
exceptions,  we  are  constrained  to  say,  was  that  of  the  Horn- 
of-the-Moon. 

On  the  day  following  that  during  which  the  singular  sur 
mises  and  discussions,  to  which  we  have  alluded,  were  started, 
two  more  members  of  the  school  were  taken  down ;  and  the 
situation  of  Henry  Marvin  had  become  so  alarming,  that  his 
agonized  mother,  some  time  in  the  preceding  night,  had 
despatched  a  man  for  a  physician  of  high  reputation,  residing 


THE    SCHOO'LMASTFR.  101 

in  a  large  village,  known  by  the  name  of  Carter sville,  nearly 
thirty  miles  distant ;  though  she  was  compelled  to  pledge  her 
only  cow  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  man,  and  induce  him 
to  become  answerable  to  the  doctor  for  his  pay.  All  this,  as 
may  be  supposed,  much  increased  the  alarm  in  the  district, 
and  quickened  into  action  those  who  had  busied  themselves 
in  getting  up  an  excitement  against  the  master.  Meanwhile, 
the  innocent  victim  of  these  absurd  imputations  remained,  at 
his  post,  wholly  ignorant  of  the  stir  that  was  going  on  about 
him,  and  thinking  only  of  the  misfortune  which  threatened 
his  school.  On  the  evening  of  the  day  last  mentioned,  he 
dismissed  his  school  early,  and  with  a  heavy  heart  repaired 
to  the  residence  of  the  distressed  widow,  to  visit  his  sick  little 
favorite.  On  reaching  the  house,  he  entered  the  room  ordi 
narily  occupied  by  the  family ;  when  he  was  introduced,  \>y  a 
woman  in  attendance,  to  Dr.  Lincoln,  the  physician  before 
named,  who,  having  arrived  a  short  time  before,  was  now 
taking  some  refreshment. 

"  Our  little  patient  here  is  a  pupil  of  yours,  sir  ?  "  inquir 
ingly  said  the  doctor,  who  was  a  small,  unostentatious,  but  a 
highly  intellectual  man. 

"  He  is,"  replied  Locke  ;  "  and  I  can  hardly  express  how 
much  anxiety  I  feel  for  his  situation,  which  I  fear  you  will 
pronounce  dangerous." 

"  Your  apprehensions,  I  regret  to  say,  are  but  too  well 
grounded,  sir." 

"  What  do  you  consider  the  true  character  of  his  disease  ?  " 

"  Whatever  it  may  have  been  at  first,  it  is  now  a  brain 
fever,  threatening  congestion." 

"  Are  you  prepared  to  assign  any  particular  cause  ?  " 

"  Of  his  first  attack,  I  am  not.     In  regard  to  the  form  the 
disease  has  now  assumed,  I  may  be  better  prepared,  perhaps, 
to  give  an  opinion  after  asking  you  a  few  questions.     What 
are  the  boy's  habits  of  study  and  scholarship  ?  " 
9* 


102  IOOKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  He  is  a  Jbright  scholar  —  uncommonly  so  —  very  indus 
trious  and  nuxious'to  learn." 

"  I  suspected  so.  And  you  have  held  up  to  him  what  to 
others,  perhaps,  would  scarcely  be  an  inducement  sufficient 
to  move  them,  but  what,  to  his  sensitive  mind,  has  incited 
him  to  unwonted  exertions  ?  " 

"  As  you  say,  sir,  I  may  have  said  that  which  had  the 
effect  to  incite  him  ;  although,  I  am  sure,  I  have  used  more 
exertions  with  many  others." 

"  I  presume  so.  It  does  not  require  a  timber-chain  to 
draw  a  miser  to  a  supposed  bed  of  gold.  A  bare  glimpse  of 
the  loved  treasure  is  enough  to  kindle  his  whole  soul  for  the 
eager  grasp.  So  with  the  youthful  intellect,  if  bright,  and 
united  with  a  strong  love  of  learning.  And  let  me  caution 
you,  my  dear  sir,  how  you  spur  on  such  a  mind,  in  one  of 
tender  years.  The  body  must  be  permitted  to  grow,  as  well 
as  the  mind.  Very  bright  children  are  said  always  to  die 
first,  and  though  the  cause  generally  assigned  for  this  may 
be  false,  there  is  yet  much  truth  in  the  saying ;  the  true 
cause  of  the  fact  being,  that  the  minds  of  such  children,  by 
the  injudiciously  applied  incitements  of  parents  and  teachers, 
are  often  so  over-wrought,  that  disease,  at  every  slight  attack 
on  other  parts  of  the  system,  is  prone  to  fly  to  the  enfeebled 
brain,  and,  oftener  than  otherwise,  destroy  its  victim.  In 
these  remarks  you  will  read  the  opinion  to  which  I  incline 
respecting  the  present  case." 

"  Ay ;  but  are  you  aware  that  several  others  of  my  school 
have  been  taken  ill,  and  those,  too,  that  would  be  the  last  to 
whom  you  would  think  of  imputing  injury  from  undue  men 
tal  exertion  ?  " 

"  I  have  so  understood,  sir.  There  may  have  been  some 
local  cause  for  these,  as  well  as  the  first  attack  of  the  poor 
little  fellow  here.  Has  any  such  cause  suggested  itself  to 
your  mind  ?  " 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  103 

"  No  !  unless  it  be  the  late  sudden  and  great  change  in  the 
weather." 

"  That  will  hardly  account  for  the  manner  in  which  jour 
school,  almost  the  whole  of  it,  iu  some  degree,  as  I  under 
stand,  has  been  affected,  in  a  time  of  such  general  health. 
There  must  be  other  causes,  which  I  feel  some  curiosity  to 
ascertain  before  I  return." 

The  conversation  was  here  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of 
u  woman  of  the  neighborhood,  one  of  that  valuable  class  of 
society  who  retail  news,  with  comments. 

"  Do  you  attend  the  school-meeting  to-night,  Mr.  Ams- 
den  ?  "  she  soon  asked ;  for  she  did  not  appear  very  bashful 
in  claiming  her  right  to  a  share  in  the  conversation. 

"  School-meeting,  madam ! "  said  Locke,  in  surprise  ;  I  was 
not  aware  that  there  was  to  be  one." 

"  O  yes,  there  is  ;  why,  everybody  is  going,  they  say.  I 
supposed  you,  of  course,  knew  it." 

"  This  is  the  first  I  have  heard  of  it.  But  what  is  the 
object  of  the  meeting  ?  " 

"  O,  to  see  what 's  to  be  done  about  the  scholars  being  in 
this  sickly  and  malagantly  way,  to  be  sure.  Some  say  the 
school  won't  keep  any  more,  at  any  rate.  But  I  tell  'em,  like 
enough  the  master  will  clear  it  up,  after  all 's  said  and  done." 

"  Clear  up  what,  pray,  madam  ?  Of  what  can  I  possi 
bly  be  accused,  in  connection  with  this  misfortune  to  my 
school?" 

"  O,  do  n't  ask  me  now  —  I  let  it  pass  into  one  ear  and  out 
the  other,  what  I  hear  ;  because  I  never  mean  to  be  one  of 
those  who  go  about  telling  things  to  breed  mischief  and  ill- 
will  among  people."  And  here  the  good  and  scrupulous 
lady  struck  off  in  a  tangent,  and  asked  the  doctor,  now  while 
she  thought  of  it,  as  she  said,  seeing  she  had  heard  a  great 
many  disputes  about  it,  "  whether  saffron  or  camomile  tea 
was,  upon  the  whole,  the  best  for  the  measles  ?  " 


104  LOCKS    AMSDEN,    OK 

As  soon  as  the  doctor,  who  was  a  man  of  much  sly  but 
caustic  humor,  had  gravely  delivered  himself  of  a  very 
learned  answer,  which,  he  said,  upon  the  whole,  all  things 
carefully  considered,  he  must  conclude  in  the  language  of  the 
great  Dr.  Pope, 

"For  forms  of  diet  drinks  let  fools  contest : 
That  which  is  best  administered  is  best." 

As  soon  as  he  had  done  this,  Locke,  whose  mind  was  still 
running  upon  the  inexplicable  news  he  had  just  heard  from 
the  woman,  again  turned  to  her,  and  asked  if  she  knew 
whether  Mr.  Bunker  had  returned  from  the  journey  on 
which  he  had  been  for  the  last  fortnight  absent." 

"  Why,  we  do  n't  certainly  know  yet,"  replied  the  news- 
mongress  ;  "  but  we  kinder  'spect  he  got  home  this  very  after 
noon.  Jim  Walker,  who  was  to  our  house  about  a  nour  ago, 
to  borrow  a  sassage-filler  for  his  wife,  said  he  thought  he 
saw,  from  his  house,  a  creter  over  there,  that  looked  like  the 
captain's  old  black  hoss,  going  to  water,  and  rolling  in  the 
snow  as  if  he  'd  jest  been  onharnessed  after  a  journey." 

"  Well,  I  am  thankful  for  that,  if  he  has  indeed  arrived," 
replied  Locke,  who  felt  anxious  for  the  presence  of  his  friend 
at  the  approaching  meeting. 

"  Come,  Mr.  Amsden,"  said  the  doctor,  rising,  "  you  will 
of  course  attend  the  school-meeting ;  and  I  will  go  with  you, 
if  I  can  be  spared  ;  but  we  will  now  walk  into  the  sick  room, 
if  you  please.  We  cannot  admit  much  company,"  he  con 
tinued,  as  he  saw  the  gossip  turn  a  longing  eye  upon  the 
opening  door,  as  if  waiting  for  an  invitation  to  accompany 
them ;  "  but  Mr.  Amsden  is  the  boy's  teacher,  whose  pres 
ence  may  be  a  benefit,  by  recalling  his  wandering  mind." 

When  they  entered  the  sick  chamber,  a  scene  of  silent  but 
touching  woe  presented  itself.  The  grief-stricken  mother, 
who  scarcely  heeded  their  approach,  sat  bending  over  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  105 

pillowed  couch,  intensely  gazing,  with  fixed,  glazed,  and  wa 
tery  eyes,  upon  the  face  of  the  little  sufferer,  as  he  lay  ner 
vously  moving  his  restless  limbs,  and  rolling  his  swathed 
head,  in  the  deep  and  troubled  slumbers  which  exhausted 
nature  seemed  to  be  strongly  claiming  on  the  one  hand,  and 
grappling  disease  fiercely  disputing  and  constantly  disturbing 
on  the  other.  The  doctor  took  the  patient's  hand,  and  atten 
tively  examined  his  pulse ;  when  some  movement,  in  restor 
ing  the  limb  to  its  place,  awoke  him.  As  his  dim  and  slowly 
wandering  eyes  fell  upon  the  face  of  his  beloved  teacher,  a 
single  glance  of  intelligence  slightly  illumined  them  ;  and  the 
semblance  of  an  affectionate  smile  played  faintly,  an  instant, 
over  his  sunken  and  livid  features,  vanishing  away  like  some 
struggling  sunbeam  that  has  partially  burst  through  a  stormy 
cloud.  The  mother  saw  the  glance,  with  the  recognition  it 
evinced.  And  the  association,  as  her  thoughts  flew  back  to 
the  happy  days  of  her  darling  boy's  health  and  friendly  inter 
course  with  his  teacher,  of  which  that  look  had  so  plainly  spo 
ken,  and  reverted  to  what  he  now  was,  and  probably  soon  would 
be,  the  association  thus  called  up  was  too  much  for  her  burst 
ing  heart.  She  groaned  aloud  from  the  inmost  recesses  of 
her  troubled  spirit.  Her  whole  frame  became  deeply  agi 
tated,  and  her  bosom  shook  with  the  convulsive  throes  of  her 
agony,  as  with  indistinct,  quick,  whispered  ejaculations, 
she  seemed  eagerly  snatching  for  the  hand  of  mercy  from 
above,  to  save  her  from  sinking  under  the  insupportable 
weight  of  her  own  feelings.  Her  prayers  were  so  far  an 
swered  as  to  bring  her  the  temporary  relief  of  tears,  which 
now  gushed  and  fell  like  rain  from  their  opening  fountains  of 
bitterness. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that,"  observed  Lincoln,  brushing  away 
a  tear  that  had  started  out  upon  his  knitting  brows.  "  It  will 
relieve  you,  madam.  And  now  let  me  persuade  you  to  go 


106  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

out,  bathe  your  face,  and  otherwise  refresh  yourself.  We 
will  remain,  and  take  care  of  your  son." 

"  Our  profession,"  resumed  the  doctor,  after  the  widow  had 
retired,  as  she  did,  in  silence,  on  the  suggestion  just  made  to 
her,  "  our  profession,  Mr.  Amsden,  is  one  which  brings  along 
with  it  many  pains,  but  which,  at  the  same  time,  is  not  with 
out  its  gratifications.  A  case  now,  like  this,  an  almost  hope 
lessly  sick  child,  with  a  distracted  parent  hanging  over  it  — 
and  we  are  daily  pained  with  witnessing  such  scenes  — 
draws  hard,  hard,  I  confess,  upon  my  sympathies.  But 
again,  on  the  other  hand,  if  this  boy  should  recover  through 
my  means,  I  shall  lay  up  in  the  bosom  of  that  mother, 
whether  I  deserve  it  or  not,  a  store  of  gratitude  which  will, 
perhaps,  often  find  utterance  in  blessings  at  the  bare  mention 
of  my  name  !  Yes,  if  he  recover,"  continued  the  speaker, 
musingly,  as  he  rose  at  some  new  appearance  he  noticed  in  the 
patient,  and  went  to  the  bedside,  "  if  he  recover  —  and  all 
that  I  can  do  shall  be  done,  and  that  too  with  no  charge  to  the 
poor  woman,  even  if  I  knew  I  had  got  to  beg  my  next  meal. 
But  it  is  a  fierce  and  unmanageable  disease,  and  I  tremble  for 
the  crisis  of  this  night.  Here,  step  here,  Mr.  Amsden,  and 
listen  to  the  confused  mutterings  of  broken  thoughts  and 
images  that  are  whirling  in  the  chaos  of  that  perplexed 
and  laboring  brain." 

Locke  immediately  complied  with  the  request ;  and  as  he 
turned  his  ear  towards  the  rapidly-moving  lips  of  the  deliri 
ous  boy,  he  could  soon  distinguish  "  six  times  six  are  thirty- 
six  —  seven  times  six  are  forty-two  —  eight  times  six  are 
forty-eight"  and  so  on.  Sometimes  he  would  follow  one 
figure  in  this  manner  through  all  its  successive  multipliers, 
in  the  usual  table,  and  then  take  up  another,  follow  it  awhile, 
and  suddenly  drop  it  for  a  third,  which  in  turn,  perhaps, 
would  be  relinquished  for  some  attempted  process  in  subtrac- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER,  107 

tion  or  division ;  in  all  of  which  he  seemed  to  be  constantly 
meeting  with  troubles  and  perplexities,  with  which  he  would 
appear  to  contend  awhile,  and  then  return  to  his  old  starting 
point  in  the  multiplication  table,  and  with  freshened  impulse 
hurry  on  with  "  six  times  six  are  thirty-six  —  seven  times  six 
are  forty-two"  &c.  &c.,  till  something  again  occurred  to  turn 
his  bewildered  mind  from  the  course  it  was  mechanically  pur 
suing. 

"  Poor,  poor  boy  !  "  exclaimed  Locke,  as,  with  a  sigh  and 
starting  tear,  he  turned  away  from  the  affecting  spectacle. 

The  time  having  arrived  for  our  hero's  departure  for  the 
school-meeting,  and  the  widow  now  coining  in,  the  doctor  ap 
prised  her  of  his  intention  of  accompanying  the  former,  and, 
giving  his  directions  for  the  next  hour,  requested  her  to  send 
for  him  should  any  considerable  change  occur  in  the  patient, 
when  they  both  set  off  together  for  the  school-house. 

On  reaching  the  place  of  destination,  they  found,  with  the 
exception  of  Bunker  and  one  or  two  others,  all  the  men,  to 
gether  with  several  of  the  older  scholars  of  the  district,  al 
ready  assembled,  and  on  the  point  of  proceeding  to  business. 
As  soon  as  Locke  had  helped  his  friend,  the  doctor,  to  a  seat, 
and  taken  one  near  by  for  himself,  he  cast  a  leisurely  look 
round  the  assembly.  It  required  neither  much  time  nor 
closeness  of  observation  to  apprise  him  that  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  suppressed,  excited  feeling  prevailing  generallv 
among  the  company.  Nor  was  he  much  longer  in  satisfying 
himself,  from  the  words  which  occasionally  reached  his  ears, 
from  little  knots  of  eager  whisperers  around  him,  and  from 
the  many  cold  and  suspicious  glances  he  encountered,  that  a 
great  portion  of  this  feeling  was  unfavorably  directed  against 
himself,  the  cause  of  which  he  was  still  unable  to  conjec 
ture. 

"  I  motion  Deacon  Gilchrist  be  Moderator  of  this  meet 
ing,"  said  one,  bobbing  half-way  up,  and  hastily  squatting 


108  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

back  to  his  seat,  before  the  sentence  was  fairly  out  of  his 
mouth. 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  but  they  will  need  a  moderator  before 
they  get  through,"  whispered  the  doctor  to  Locke,  emphasiz 
ing  the  word  so  as  to  give  it  a  literal  signification. 

The  vote  having  been  taken,  and  the  chairman,  a  short, 
sluggish  man,  wrhose  wisdom  and  sanctity  lay  principally  in 
his  face,  being  duly  installed  in  his  seat,  he  pronounced  tho 
meeting  open,  and  invited  those  present  "  to  offer.'1 

u  I  motion,"  again  said  the  person  who  had  first  spoken, 
"  I  motion,  Mr.  Moderator,  that  this  school  come  to  an  eend. 
And  I  've  got  my  reasons  for  V 

The  motion  was  eagerly  seconded  by  two  or  three  others, 
all  speaking  at  once,  and  demanding  the  question,  in  a  man 
ner  that  plainly  showed  that  a  considerable  portion  of  those 
present  were  acting  in  concert,  and  with  the  intention  of 
haying  the  vote  taken  before  any  debate  could  be  had  on  the 
subject.  And  the  chairman,  who  was  evidently  a  secret  fa 
vorer  of  the  project,  jumped  up  to  put  the  question  ;  when 
Locke,  who  had  witnessed  the  movement  with  the  utmost 
surprise,  rose  and  demanded  the  reasons  which  the  mover 
asserted  he  had  for  his  proposed  measure. 

"  I  call  for  the  vote  —  put  it  to  vote  ! "  was  the  only  reply 
which  Locke  received  to  his  reasonable  demand. 

"  Look  here  now,  Mr.  Moderator,"  cried  a  tall,  rough-look 
ing  young  fellow,  who  rose  in  a  different  part  of  the  room 
from  that  occupied  by  the  combined  party,  "  I  have  neither 
chick  or  child  to  send  to  school,  to  be  sure  ;  but  I  'm  a  voter 
here,  and  I  must  say  I  think  you  are  for  pushing  the  master 
rather  hard,  to  vote  him  out  without  giving  him  your  reasons, 
so  as  to  allow  him  a  chance  to  clear  it  up,  if  he  can.  And 
as  to  any  blame  for  the  sickness  resting  on  him,  I  a  n't 
so  sure  but  Avhat  he  can  ;  for  I  can 't  say  I  think  much  of 
this  Nack  art  business,  or  of  its  having  any  thing  to  do  in 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  109 

bringing  on  the  trouble.  I  would  n't  give  much  for  all  the 
help  the  master  or  any  body  else  ever  got  that  way.  Now 
you  may  think  as  you  're  a  mind  to  ;  but  I  never  thought  the 
old  boy  was  half  so  much  of  a  critter  as  he  's  cracked  up  to 
be.  And  I  do  n't  believe  he  's  any  great  scratch  at  cipherin* 
himself  neither,  much  less  to  teach  it  to  others." 

The  sensibilities  of  the  good  deacon  received  a  very  visi 
ble  shock  from  this  strange  and  irreverent  speech,  as  it  was 
deemed  ;  and  his  zealous  supporter,  whom  we  have  mentioned 
as  taking  the  lead  in  motions  thus  far  made,  was  so  much 
outraged  in  his  feelings,  either  by  the  sentiments  of  the 
speaker,  or  the  opposition  they  implied  to  his  plans,  that  he 
rose,  and  said  he  thought  the  young  man  ought  to  be  rebuked 
for  such  loose  discourse,  in  a  meeting  like  this,  where  folks 
had  so  much  reason  to  be  solemn.  "  I  wonder  if  he  believes," 
continued  the  zealot,  warming  up,  "  what  the  scripture  says 
about  the  power  of  sorcerers'  getting  unlawful  help  to  do  what 
other  folks  could  n't  do  ?  And  I  should  like  to  ask  him 
where  he  thinks  the  help  come  from,  when  young  John  Mug- 
ridge,  that  the  master  had  got  along  so  unnatural  fast  in  fig 
ures,  did  a  hard  sum  in  his  sleep.  I  want  to  know,  too, 
what  he  thinks  about  Avidow  Marvin's  boy  being  taken  sick — 
in  mercy,  perhaps  —  the  very  next  week  after  the  master  put 
him  to  ciphering.  And  then  I  wish  he  'd  tell  us  what  makes 
the  whole  school  look  so  blue  and  ghastly,  if  there  a  n't  any 
thing  wrong  in  the  master's  doings.  And  I  call  on  the  mas 
ter  himself  to  say  whether  he  can  deny  that  he  understands 
the  black  art." 

Locke  could  hardly  bring  himself  to  reply  to  this  ridicu 
lous  charge,  or  even  to  answer  the  particular  question  that 
he  had  been  thus  publicly  called  on  to  answer.  He  did  so, 
however,  by  briefly  stating  that  he  knew  of  no  such  art. 
He  had  heard,  indeed,  that  the  faculty  of  foretelling  events, 
fortunes,  and  the  like,  was  supposed  to  be  attainable  by  fig- 
10 


110  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

ures.  And  he  recollected,  as  lie  commenced  arithmetic  when 
a  mere  boy,  indulging  a  sort  of  vague  expectation  that  he 
should  come  across  this  art,  if  he  went  far  enough.  But  the 
further  he  advanced,  the  more  did  he  see  the  impossibility  of 
acquiring  any  such  faculty  by  the  use  of  ilgures,  which,  more 
peculiarly  than  any  other  science,  discarded  all  suppositions, 
and  had  to  do  only  with  certain  demonstrable  facts.  And 
now,  having  studied  or  examined,  as  he  believed,  nearly  all 
of  that  science  that  had  been  published,  he  was  fully  pre 
pared  to  say  that  the  belief  in  the  faculty  in  question  was 
wholly  a  delusion. 

"  I  do  n't  blame  him  for  denying  it,"  said  the  superstitious 
spokesman  before  named.  "I  think  I  should,  if  I  was 
wicked  enough  to  tamper  with  sich  forbidden  things.  But 
I  should  like  to  hear  Deacon  Gilchrist  the  Moderator's 
views  on  this  subject." 

The  Moderator,  after  sundry  hems  and  haws,  by  way  of 
getting  his  apparatus  of  speech  in  motion,  assumed  a  look  of 
wise  solemnity,  and  observed,  — 

"  It  appears  to  me,  my  beloved  friends,  that  there 's  an 
awful  responsibility  on  us.  Duty  is  duty.  I  do  think  so.  I 
do  n't  know,  nor  want  to,  much  about  the  hidden  things  of 
figures,  except  they  are  thought  to  be  the  instruments  that 
Satan  works  by  sometimes.  We  know  there  were  sorcerers 
and  workers  in  hidden  mysteries,  in  the  days  of  the  apos 
tles  ;  and  the  scripter  says  they  shall  be  multiplied  in  the 
latter  days,  which  now  is.  I  once  read  a  book  by  a  great 
and  deep  divine  —  I've  eeny  most  forgot  his  name,  but  I 
think  it  was  Woollen  Marther,  or  some  sich  oncommon  crissen 
name  —  who  had  seen,  with  his  own  eyes,  a  great  deal  of  the 
awful  doings  of  Satan.  And  he  speaks  of  the  strange  looks 
of  those  that  were  buffeted  by  the  adversary,  and  the  divers 
maladies  and  sore  evils  that  befell  those  who  were  led  by 
his  emissaries  into  unlawful  ways.  And  I  do  think,  my 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  Ill 

friends,  there's  something  very  mysterious  in  this  'ere  school. 
I  do  think  we  have  seen  a  token  of  displeasure,  that  seems 
to  say  to  us,  in  a  loud  voice  —  yea,  the  voice  of  many  thun 
ders  —  Come  out,  and  be  separate  from  him  that  bringeth  the 
evil  upon  you" 

This  speech  was  triumphantly  echoed  by  several  of  the 
deacon's  supporters,  as  an  unanswerable  argument  for  the 
measure  they  were  so  intent  on  carrying.  There  were  others, 
however,  who  were  so  obtuse  as  not  to  perceive  the  force  of 
the  argument,  or  the  justice  of  its  application.  Among  these 
were  the  intended  victim  of  this  combination,  and  his  newly- 
found  friend,  the  tall  fellow,  whose  speech  had  so  scandalized 
his  opponents ;  both  of  whom  made  a  reply  to  the  oracular 
speech  of  our  modern  Solomon  —  the  one  by  denying  both 
premises  and  conclusions,  and  the  other  by  drolly  asking  par 
don  of  the  old  boy,  the  deacon,  or  any  of  their  friends,  if  he 
had  underrated  or  offended  them  in  his  former  speech,  and 
by  contending  that  the  master  had  cleared  himself,  to  his 
mind,  of  the  charge  of  ciphering  his  scholars  into  fevers,  and 
their  parents  into  fidgets.  These  replies  led  to  a  good  deal 
of  scattering  debate,  in  which  nearly  all,  by  speech,  word 
thrown  in,  or  other  manifestation,  participated ;  and  by 
which  it  became  apparent  that  there  were  strictly  three  par 
ties  in  the  assembly :  first,  the  deacon's  trained  followers, 
who,  numbering  about  one  third  of  the  district,  were  for 
breaking  up  the  school,  for  reasons  before  given ;  second, 
another  portion,  of  about  the  same  number,  who  had  been 
induced  to  come  into  the  plan  of  the  former,  through  their 
secret  fears  that  some  contagious  disease  was  about  to  break 
out  in  the  school,  which  their  children  would  be  more  likely 
to  take,  if  the  school  continued ;  and  last,  the  other  third, 
who  believed  the  master  in  no  way  chargeable  for  the 
condition  of  the  school,  which  they  wished  might  be  still 
continued. 


112  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

The  deacon's  party,  perceiving,  by  this  time,  that  they 
could  safely  count  on  strength  enough  to  carry  their  mea 
sure,  clamored  more  loudly  than  ever  for  a  decision  of  the 
question.  Locke  gave  himself  up  as  lost,  and  a  few  minutes 
more  would,  indeed,  have  been  decisive  of  his  doom,  but  for 
the  unexpected  arrival  of  a  new  personage.  This  was  Bun 
ker,  who  having  reached  home  only  a  few  hours  before,  had 
not  heard  what  was  in  train  till  the  evening  was  considerably 
advanced;  when,  accidentally  learning  something  of  the 
facts,  he  came  post  haste  to  the  scene  of  action.  This  arri 
val  very  visibly  disconcerted  the  deacon's  party,  and  produced 
a  dead  pause  in  their  proceedings,  during  which  the  former 
marched  boldly  up  to  Locke,  and  gave  him  one  of  those 
hearty  and  cordial  shakes  of  the  hand,  which  send  assurance 
to  the  desponding  heart,  and  are  more  gratefully  felt,  on. 
some  emergencies,  than  a  thousand  expressed  pledges  of 
friendship,  on  others.  After  being  introduced  to  Dr.  Lin 
coln,  Bunker,  taking  a  conspicuous  stand  before  the  com 
pany,  immediately  demanded  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and, 
by  a  series  of  sharp  and  rapid  questions,  addressed  first  to 
one,  then  another,  soon  succeeded  in  drawing  out  the  whole 
truth,  with  all  that  had  transpired. 

"  O  ye  miserable  thinkers  ! "  he  exclaimed,  a,s  soon  as  he 
had  satisfied  himself  of  the  true  situation  of  affairs,  "  what, 
in  the  name  of  common  sense,  could  have  put  ye  up  to  such 
nonsense  and  folly  as  this  ?  Three  decent  efforts  for  a  cor 
rect  idea  should  have  told  you  that  the  master  would  not  be 
caught  teaching,  for  nothing,  so  valuable  a  secret  as  the 
black  art,  if  that  art  is  all  you  suppose  it  to  be.  Why,  by 
foretelling  the  rise  in  the  markets,  or  the  lucky  number  of 
the  ticket  that  is  to  draw  the  highest  prize  in  the  next  lot 
tery,  he  can  make  an  independent,  fortune  in  six  months,  if 
lie  will  keep  his  secret  to  himself;  but  if  he  goes  and  im 
parts  this  faculty  to  others,  they  will  get  away  all  his  chances 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  113 

for  sucli  luck,  and  his  art  won't  be  worth  a  farthing  to  him. 
Do  you  believe  he  would  do  such  a  foolish  thing  ?  No  !  not 
a  soul  of  you.  There  is  thought  number  one  for  you. 

"Again  —  what  could  make  you  think  that  the  teaching  of 
this  art  ever  did,  or  could,  bring  ill-health,  either  upon  the 
teacher  or  the  taught?  This  was  never  a  fact.  Is  there 
any  thing  said  in  the  Bible  about  the  magicians,  witches,  or 
diviners,  or  their  followers,  being  taken  sickly  for  their  prac 
tices  ?  Did  Simon  Magus  make  anybody  sick  ?  Did  the 
sorceress,  or  black-art  girl,  that  St.  Paul  converted,  carry 
disease  in  her  train  ?  No  ;  for  she  had  brought  her  master 
a  good  deal  of  money  by  telling  folk's  fortunes  ;  when,  if  she 
had  brought  sickness  and  judgments  upon  them,  they  would 
have  given  him  more  money  to  have  kept  her  away.  Nor 
was  there  any  such  misfortunes  connected  with  the  witchcraft 
in  the  old  Bay  State.  Doctor  Mather,  even  in  his  book, 
do  n't  say  so  ;  for  I  have  heard  it  read.  The  bewitched,  ac 
cording  to  his  story,  only  acted  and  appeared  a  little  wild 
and  devilish.  But,  if  his  book  had  said  this,  it  would  amount 
to  nothing ;  for  I  do  n't  believe,  if  the  old  Nick  himself  should 
turn  book-maker  to-day,  and  sit  down,  with  his  old  yellow, 
brimstone-tempered  steel  pen,  and  do  his  best,  for  a  month, 
he  could  get  more  of  the  real  essence  of  falsehood  between 
the  two  lids  of  a  book,  than  can  be  found  in  the  book  I  Ve 
mentioned.  And  if  ever  that  learned  doctor  —  for  he  was 
accounted  pious  —  gets  within  the  walls  of  the  New  Jerusa 
lem,  he  will  find,  I  fear,  when  he  comes  to  see  what  suffering, 
death,  and  crime,  were  brought  about  through  his  influence 
and  example,  as  well  as  he  might  mean  —  that  heaven  will 
be  rather  an  uneasy  place  for  him.  But,  supposing  the  judg 
ments  of  sickness,  and  so  on,  did  attend  such  doings,  what  then  ? 
How  would  it  stand  in  the  present  case  ?  Why,  the  master,  by 
the  very  art  that  was  to  produce  the  misfortune,  would  know 
that  the  misfortune  would  follow  his  attempt  to  teach  it* 
10* 


114:  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    Oil 

And  do  you  think  lie  would  try  it,  when  he  knew  it  would 
bring  sickness  and  trouble  on  his  school,  that  must  break  it 
up,  cost  him  the  loss  of  all  his  wages,  and,  what  is  more,  send 
him  off  with  a  character  that  would  for  ever  prevent  his  get 
ting  another  school  ?  Would  he  be  such  a  stupid  fool  as  to 
do  this  ?  Never !  and  you  all  now  see  and  know  it.  There 
is  thought  number  two  for  you. 

"  Once  more.  In  what  I  have  said,  I  have  taken  you  wholly 
on  your  own  ground  ;  so  that  you  should  not  say  I  could 
meet  you  only  on  my  own  dunghill.  I  will  now  make  you 
come  on  to  my  ground,  and  see  if  you  can  stand  fire  any 
better  there.  And  this  is  my  ground:  —  I  say  that  this 
black  art,  as  you  understand  it,  the  faculty  of  foretelling 
events,  together  with  sorcery,  magic,  or  witchery,  and  every 
other  art  that  lays  claim  to  any  such  faculty  by  the  aid  of 
figures,  or  any  thing  else,  is  all  moonshine,  imposition,  and 
falsehood.  And  I  do  n't  want  to  set  before  you  but  one  sin 
gle  idea  to  make  you  know  and  feel  the  truth  of  my  asser 
tion.  "Now  follow  me.  Did  you  ever  know  or  hear  of  a  rich 
fortune-teller,  black-art-worker,  or  conjuror  ?  Speak  out,  if 
you  ever  did.  A  single  one  that  was  rich,  I  say.  You  do  n't 
speak  ?  No  ;  for  you  can  't  say  you  ever  did  hear  of  such 
an  one.  You  all  well  know  that  they  are  a  set  of  poor,  beg 
garly  rascals  from  beginning  to  end.  Well  now,  what  pre 
vents  them,  as  I  said  of  our  master  here,  if  they  have  this 
faculty  of  looking  or  figuring  into  futurity,  from  seeing  and 
seizing  upon  every  lottery  ticket  that  is  to  draw  a  good  prize  ; 
from  buying  every  article  in  the  markets  that  is  about  to  rise 
greatly  in  price  ?  What  prevents  them  from  doing  this,  and 
making  their  fortunes  at  a  blow  ?  Tell  me,  you,  or  you,  or 
you.  This  is  thought  number  three  for  you. 

"  Now  my  number  first  pinned  an  argument  upon  you  — 
even  allowing  you  your  own  false  premises  —  with  nothing 
but  a  wooden  pin,  that  you  could  not  break.  My  number 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  115 

second,  still  giving  you  the  same  advantage,  put  in  a  board 
nail,  that,  with  or  without  the  pin,  not  one  of  you  could  twist 
or  move.  And  my  number  third  puts  a  double  ten  clincher 
upon  the  whole,  that  all  of  you  together  can  never  start. 
Now  stand  forth  and  gainsay  it,  ye  persecutors  of  the  best 
teacher  we  ever  had  in  the  district,  or  for  ever  hold  your 
peace  !  No  one  speaks  ;  and  I  pronounce  the  master  guilt 
less,  and  acquitted  of  your  foolish  charge. 

"  B-ut  although  the  master  is  no  way  blameable,  yet  that 
an  unusual  number  of  the  scholars  are  sick,  and  nearly  all 
drooping,  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  I  am  not  going  to  deny. 
And  there  is  some  cause  for  it,  which  we  must  try  to  discover, 
that  we  may  stop  the  evil.  If  it  is  not  the  starting  point  of 
some  epidemic  disease  that  is  about  to  spread  over  the  coun 
try,  why,  then  it  must  be  owing  to  something  wrong  about  the 
school-house.  By  taking  up  the  possibilities,  one  after  an 
other,  I  probably  could  think  it  out  myself  within  twenty-four 
hours.  But  here  is  a  man,"  continued  the  speaker,  turning 
towards  the  doctor,  "  who  has  been  in  the  way  of  thinking 
of  such  things  half  of  his  life.  Let  us  have  his  opinion. 
Dr.  Lincoln,  will  you  favor  us  with  your  views  on  the  subject 
of  inquiry  ?  " 

The  doctor,  who  had  attentively  listened  to  the  whole  de 
bate,  much  of  which  he  had  appeared  to  enjoy  with  the 
highest  zest,  now  rose,  and  observed  that  he  had  already 
made  up  his  mind  to  offer  his  opinion  on  the  matter  in  ques 
tion,  before  called  on ;  and  he  would  now  proceed  to  do 
so.  He  had  some  secret  suspicion  of  the  cause  of  the  gen 
eral  unhealthiness  of  the  school,  on  first  learning  the  fact ; 
and  having  come  to  the  meeting,  mainly  with  the  view  of 
satisfying  himself  in  relation  to  the  matter,  his  attention, 
during  the  time  he  had  been  here,  had  been  particularly 
directed  to  the  subject ;  and  he  was  now  prepared  to  say, 
that  what  was  before  a  mere  suspicion  with  him  was  now  a 


116  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OK 

confirmed  opinion.  The  cause,  and  sole  cause,  of  this  un- 
healthiness  was  the  want  of  ventilation  ;  and,  from  what  he 
had  suffered  himself  since  in  the  room,  although  the  door  had 
been  frequently  opened,  he  was  only  surprised  that  the  con 
dition  of  the  scholars  was  not  infinitely  worse  than  he  under 
stood  it  was.  Though  not  wishing  it  to  strengthen  his  own 
convictions,  yet,  as  it  might  better  convince  others,  he 
would  proceed  to  set  the  matter  in  a  stronger  light  before 
them. 

The  doctor,  then,  while  every  ear  and  eye  were  regarding 
his  words  and  movements  with  intense  interest,  called  on 
Locke  to  ascertain  the  number  of  cubic  feet  contained  in  the 
empty  space  of  the  room.  A  carpenter  present,  who  hap 
pened  to  have  a  bundle  of  his  tools  with  him,  having  called 
into  the  meeting  while  on  his  way  home  from  some  finished 
job,  produced  a  rule,  and  took  the  different  dimensions  of  the 
apartment  with  great  exactness ;  when  Locke,  from  the  data 
thus  furnished,  quickly  ascertained  and  told  off  the  number 
of  cubic  feet,  as  required.  This  number,  owing  to  the  ill-ad 
vised  construction  of  the  school-room,  in  which  the  floor  rose 
from  one  side  at  so  great  at  angle  as  to  take  up  about  one 
sixth  part  of  what  would  have  been  the  space  with  a  level 
floor,  amounted  only,  with  proper  deductions  for  stove,  seats, 
&c.,  to  sixteen  hundred  cubic  feet. 

"  Now  let  me  observe,"  said  the  doctor,  "  that,  from  the 
latest  and  most  accurate  experiments  of  chemists  and  medi 
cal  men,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  one  person,  by  respira 
tion  from  the  lungs  alone,  destroys  all  the  oxygen,  or  vital 
principle,  in  thirteen  cubic  feet  of  space  per  hour.  How 
many  scholars  have  you,  Mr.  Amsden  ?  " 

"  Sixty,  upon  the  average,  perhaps  more,  say  sixty-four." 

"  Ascertain,  then,  how  many  cubic  feet  of  vital  air  these 
all  will  destroy  in  one  hour." 

"  Both  Locke  and  Bunker,  the  latter  of  whom  now  began 


T1IK    SCHOOLMASTF.iJ.  117 

to  be  in  his  element,  almost  the  next  instant  gave  the  same 
answer  —  eight  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet. 

"  How  long  do  you  generally  keep  them  in  without  inter 
mission,  in  which  the  doors  would  necessarily  remain  open  a 
moment  while  they  were  passing  out  ?  " 

"  Generally  an  hour  and  a  half,  sometimes  two." 

"  Then,  gentlemen,"  said  the  doctor,  "  the  true,  but  greatly 
misconceived,  cause  of  your  trouble  and  just  alarm  is  now 
plainly  before  you.  You  see,  by  our  calculation,  that,  in  less 
than  two  hours,  ail  the  air  that  can  sustain  life  a  moment 
would  be,  in  this  new  and  almost  bottle-tight  room,  if  not  ren 
ovated  by  opening  the  doors  or  windows,  entirely  consumed. 
And,  taking  into  the  account  the  quantity  of  this  vital  prin 
ciple  inhaled  by  the  pores  of  so  many  persons,  and  the  pro 
bably  greater  portion  destroyed  by  the  fire  and  reflecting 
surface  of  the  stove  and  pipe,  I  presume  one  hour  is  suffi 
cient  to  render  the  air  extremely  unhealthy  ;  an  hour  and  a 
half,  absolutely  poisonous ;  and  two  hours,  so  fatally  so  as 
to  cause  your  children  to  drop  dead  on  the  floor." 

"  Thunder  ! "  exclaimed  Bunker,  "  can  this  be  so  ?  I  long 
since  knew  that  we  were  put  upon  our  allowance,  when  in  close 
rooms,  for  the  right  kind  of  breathing  air  ;  but  I  never  sup 
posed  there  was  so  much  death  in  the  pot  as  that  comes  to. 
B lit  that  fact  which  you  build  upon  —  the  amount  of  vital 
air  a  person  destroys  an  hour  —  I  am  afraid,  doctor,  you  got 
it  only  out  of  the  books,  which  I  am  rather  shy  in  trusting 
for  what  I  call  gospel." 

"  Both  from  books  and  my  own  imperfect  experiments," 
replied  Lincoln,  "  and  I  am  satisfied  that  the  proportion  is 
not  rated  too  highly.  But  I  have  not  quite  done  all  that 
I  proposed  in  this  case.  We  have  now  been  in  the  room,  I 
perceive  by  my  watch,  but  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  while 
there  are  not  probably  over  thirty  persons  present.  And 
yet,  even  in  this  time,  and  with  this  number,  I  will  ask  you 


118  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

all,  if  you  do  not  feel  oppressed  and  uneasy  from  the  impu 
rity  of  the  air  here  ?  " 

"  I  do  —  and  I  —  and  I  too,"  responded  several ;  while 
others,  as  the  case  was  thus  now  brought  home  to  their  own 
senses,  which  plainly  spoke  in  the  affirmative,  sprang  forward 
in  alarm  to  throw  open  the  doors. 

"  Not  yet  —  not  yet,"  said  the  doctor,  interposing.  "  We 
can  live  awhile  longer ;  and  I  wish  in  some  degree  to  satisfy 
you,  and  particularly  Captain  Bunker  here,  whose  thorough 
mode  of  coming  at  results  I  much  admire,  that  what  I  have 
said  is  not  altogether  incapable  of  proof,  even  with  the  means 
at  hand.  Cannot  our  carpenter  here,  with  a  few  minutes' 
work,  so  alter  the  casings,  that  the  upper  sashes  of  these 
windows  can  be  lowered  some  few  inches  ?  " 

Locke  —  who  felt  both  pained  and  chagrined,  that  his  inat 
tention  to  this  matter,  in  which  he  so  well  knew  all  the  prin 
ciples  involved,  should  have  so  nearly  led  to  disastrous 
consequences,  and  whose  active  mind,  having  seen  through 
the  whole  subject  at  a  glance,  the  moment  the  doctor  put  him 
on  the  track,  had  long  since  been  engaged  in  devising  a  ready 
remedy  for  the  discovered  evil  —  here  interposed,  and  sug 
gested  that  an  opening  made  in  the  centre  of  the  ceiling, 
would  best  effect  the  object  in  view. 

"  If  it  can  be  done  ?  "  inquiringly  said  the  doctor. 

"  Be  done  !  "  said  Bunker,  "  yes,  it  can.  Here,  carpenter, 
up  in  this  chair  with  your  tools,  and  make  a  hole  through 
there,  in  no  time.  This  business  is  just  beginning  to  get 
through  my  hair." 

A  few  moments  sufficed  to  make  an  aperture  about  eight 
inches  square,  opening  into  the  attic  story  above ;  the  square 
form  being  adopted,  as  best  comporting  with  the  simple  con 
trivance  with  which  it  was  proposed  to  cover  it  —  that  of  a 
mere  board  slide,  supported  by  cleats,  in  which  it  would  play 
back  and  forth,  as  the  aperture  required  to  be  opened  for 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  119 

ventilation,  or  shut  to  preserve  the  warmth  of  the  room. 
Scarcely  had  the  workman  time  to  adjust  the  slide  in  its 
place,  before  every  particle  of  impure  air  had  apparently 
escaped  through  the  opening,  to  pass  off  by  the  crevices  in 
the  roof.  All  felt  and  acknowledged  the  change,  with  aston 
ishment  and  delight.  The  sensations  of  languor  and  oppres 
sion,  that  had  begun  to  weigh  heavily  on  the  feelings  and  spirits 
of  the  company,  had  left  them  almost  as  unexpectedly  and 
suddenly  as  fell  the  bundle  of  sins  from  the  back  of  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,"  said  Doctor  Lincoln,  as  he  looked 
round,  and  saw  in  the  speaking  countenances  of  the  com 
pany,  that  all  were  as  well  satisfied  as  they  were  grati 
fied  at  the  result ;  "  I  believe  the  mystery  is  now  solved. 
At  all  events,  I'll  agree  to  cure,  for  nothing,  all  the  scholars 
that  are  hereafter  made  sick  from  any  thing  about  the  school- 
house,  or  in  the  conduct  of  their  master." 

"  Yes,  the  room  is  as  clear  as  a  horn,  by  George  ! "  ex 
claimed  Bunker,  "  and  the  thing  is  done  —  proved  out  as 
square  as  a  brick,  right  in  our  face  and  eyes  ;  and  there  's 
no  getting  away  from  it.  But  what  sticks  in  my  crop  is,  that 
we  must  have  a  man  —  and  a  book  man,  too,  though  he 
plainly  do  n't  swallow  books  whole,  without  chewing,  as  most 
of  'em  do  —  have  a  man  come  thirty  miles  to  think  it  out  for 
us  !  Master,  you  and  I  ought  to  be  trounced." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Moderator,"  said  the  deacon's  tormenter,  the 
rustic  humorist,  we  mean,  who  was  the  first  to  take  up  for 
Locke  in  the  debate,  and  who  now  seemed  greatly  to  enjoy 
the  triumph  of  the  latter  over  the  little  clique  of  his  chop- 
fallen  foes  —  "  Well,  Mr.  Moderator,  how  is  it  about  the  old 
boy  and  his  little  blue  influences,  now  ?  Do  n't  you  think 
they  've  pretty  much  all  cleared  out  through  that  hole  up 
yonder  ?  Ah !  I  was  about  right,  deacon :  if  the  old  chap 
had  been  any  great  affair,  he  could  n't  have  crept  out  through 


120  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

so  small  a  hole  as  that  comes  to,  quite  so  quick,  you  may  de 
pend  on 't." 

But  the  deacon,  who  suddenly  recollected  a  promise  he  had 
made  to  carry,  that  night,  some  thorough- wort  to  a  jaundery 
neighbor,  was  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  reply  to  such  scoff 
ing  questions  ;  and  he,  with  one  or  two  of  his  most  zealous 
supporters,  immediately  quitted  the  house,  leaving  the  rest 
of  the  vanquished  party,  whether  superstitionists  or  alarm 
ists,  to  join  the  master  and  his  increasing  number  of  friends, 
acknowledge  their  error,  and  reciprocate  congratulations  on 
the  unexpectedly  happy  result  of  the  whole  of  this  singular 
affair.  We  say  the  whole ;  for,  before  the  company  broke  up, 
word  was  brought  by  one  of  the  larger  scholars,  who  had 
gone  over  to  Widow  Marvin's  during  the  meeting,  and  just 
returned,  that  the  sick  boy  there  had  fallen  into  a  quiet 
sleep,  attended  by  gentle  perspiration;  —  symptoms  which  the 
gratified  doctor  at  once  pronounced  to  be  a  plain  indication 
that  the  disease  was  going  off,  by  what  he  technically  termed 
resolution.  And  the  result,  in  this  case  at  least,  went  to 
prove  the  doctor's  skill  in  prognostics.  The  boy,  after  that 
night,  was  consigned,  by  his  departing  physician,  to  the  care 
only  of  his  grateful  mother,  who,  within  a  fortnight,  had  the 
unspeakable  happiness  of  seeing  her  darling  son  restored  to 
health,  and  his  still  loved,  but  now  more  temperately  pursued 
studies. 

Of  the  remainder  of  young  Amsden's  career  in  this  dis 
trict,  little  more  need  be  added.  Compared  with  the  trials, 
vexations,  and  labors  of  the  past,  he  now  found  but  a  path  of 
flowers.  The  recent  misfortune  in  his  school,  and  the  con 
sequent  infatuated  movement  to  overthrow  him,  operating  as 
all  overwrought  persecutions  usually  do,  instead  of  injuring 
him,  were  the  means  of  turning  the  popular  current  strongly 
in  his  favor,  and  of  giving  him  a  place  in  the  estimation  of 
nearly  all  around  him,  which  he  otherwise  would  have  failed 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  121 

to  obtain.  Being  no  further  troubled  with  the  injudicious  in 
terference  of  parents,  or  the  misbehavior  of  their  children, — 
those  two  evils  which  too  often  require  the  best  part  of  a 
teacher's  time  and  attention  to  meet  and  overcome  them,  —  he 
had  nothing  to  do  but  instruct  his  pupils.  And  by  no  means 
unprofitably  did  the  latter  use  the  opportunity  thus  afforded 
them.  From  a  rough,  wild,  unthinking  set  of  creatures, 
who  could  appreciate  nothing  but  animal  pleasures  or  phys 
ical  prowess,  they  became  rational  beings,  ambitious  for  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  capable  of  intellectual  pleas 
ures.  A  new  standard  of  taste  and  merit,  in  short,  had  been 
imperceptibly  raised  among  them ;  and  the  winter  that  Locke 
Anisden  kept  school  became  an  era  in  the  district,  from 
which  commenced  a  visible  and  happy  change  in  the  whole 
moral  and  intellectual  tone  of  its  society. 

Nor  were  the  advantages  which  attended  his  exertions  in 
this  place  wholly  on  one  side.  In  teaching  others,  the  mas 
ter  himself  was  often  taught.  Questions  were  daily  put  to 
him,  even  by  children  in  their  abs,  which  led  him  to  reflec 
tion,  research,  and  discoveries  of  truths,  which,  thorough 
scholar  as  he  was,  he  found,  to  his  surprise,  he  had  before 
overlooked,  and  which  otherwise  might  never  have  occurred 
to  him;  —  discoveries,  we  repeat,  of  important  truths,  in 
almost  every  study  of  his  school,  and  particularly  in  those 
of  orthography,  orthoepy,  and  etymology,  those  sadly  neg 
lected  branches  which  require  a  philosopher  to  teach  them 
understandingly,  but  which  are  yet,  oftener  than  otherwise, 
entrusted  to  the  teaching  of  an  ignoramus  ! 

In  what  is  termed  a  physical  education,  also,  he  here  re 
ceived  hints,  which  led  him  to  the  adoption  of  much  more 
correct  and  enlarged  views  than  any  he  had  before  enter 
tained.  His  attention,  indeed,  had  never  been  directed  to 
the  subject ;  and  he  had  therefore  continued  to  look  upon 
it  as  did  others  around  him,  either  as  a  matter  of  little  im- 
11 


122  LOCKE    AMSDEX. 

portance,  or,  at  best,  as  one  which  had  no  legitimate  connec 
tion  with  popular  education.  But  the  painful  and  alarming 
occurrences  which  we  have  described,  as  arising  from  the 
want  of  ventilation  in  his  school-house,  taught  him  a  lesson 
which  could  not  be  disregarded  or  easily  forgotten ;  caused 
him  to  give  an  earnest  consideration  to  this  subject  in  all  its 
bearings,  whether  in  relation  to  ventilation,  length  of  confine 
ment  to  study,  or  ease  of  position ;  and  forced  upon  his  mind 
the  conviction,  that  physical  education,  or  an  observance  of 
those  laws  of  life  which  can  only  insure  the  health  of  the 
body,  and  the  consequent  health  of  the  mind,  is,  as  truly  as 
any  other,  a  part  of  an  instructor's  duty,  for  the  performance 
of  which,  before  high  Heaven,  he  will  be  held  responsible. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

"  Low  in  the  world,  because  he  scorns  its  arts ; 
A  man  of  letters,  manners,  morals,  parts ; 
Unpatronized,  and  therefore  little  known; 
Wise  for  himself  and  his  few  friends  alone." 

COWPER. 

HAVING  fulfilled  his  engagement  in  the  Horn-of-the-Moon, 
and  bid  a  regretful  adieu  to  the  many  friends  he  had  there 
made,  among  the  stanchest  of  whom  was  the  straight-going 
and  strong-minded  Bunker,  young  Amsden  returned  to  his 
family,  with  the  intention  of  negociating,  on  some  terms,  with 
his  father,  for  his  time,  during  the  remainder  of  his  minority, 
that  he  might  resume  his  studies.  On  naming  the  subject  to 
his  parents,  his  father  gave  him  the  choice  of  serving  out  his 
time,  and  receiving  in  return  a  portion  of  the  homestead  or 
a  new  lot  of  land  when  he  should  become  of  age,  or  of  going 
now  with  nothing.  Locke  thanked  him  for  the  option,  and 
instantly  decided  to  depart.  His  decision,  however,  was  not 
grounded  on  any  dislike  to  an  agricultural  life  ;  for,  on  the 
contrary,  he  ever  thought  highly  of  that  healthful  and  noble 
avocation,  which  so  early  received  the  signal  sanction  of 
Heaven.  And  ever  since  that  charmed  hour  in  which  he 
listened  to  the  glowing  picture  of  the  life  of  the  scientific 
farmer,  drawn  by  the  stranger  gentleman,  whose  visit,  with 
that  of  his  bright-eyed  daughter,  was  still  secretly  cherished 
in  remembrance,  as  an  event  which  first  fairly  apprised  him 
he  had  a  mind  to  be  expanded,  and  a  heart  to  be  affected,  he 
had  determined  eventually  to  return  to  that  life.  But  he 
must  first  have  knowledge,  more  knowledge,  a  little  more 


124  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

knowledge;  and  all  the  temptations  of  earth  should  not 
divert  him  from  his  purpose.  To  gain  this,  he  had,  as  we 
have  just  mentioned,  freely  relinquished,  for  aught  he  knew, 
his  whole  birthright ;  and  so,  with  as  little  hesitation,  would 
he  have  done,  had  its  value  been  tenfold  greater  than  it  was, 
even  had  he  been  compelled  to  go  forth  as  penniless  as  the 
beggar  of  the  streets.  He  was  not  finally  permitted,  how 
ever,  to  depart  wholly  unprovided.  His  good  mother,  who 
had  heard  him  reject  the  offers  of  his  father,  and  dropped  a 
silent  tear,  —  drawn  forth,  not  at  witnessing  the  sacrifice,  but 
the  self-sacrificing  and  noble  motive  which  had  prompted  it, — 
again  exerted  her  influence  in  his  behalf,  and  not  altogether 
in  vain.  On  the  morning  of  his  departure,  he  was  furnished 
with  an  outfit,  which,  with  the  limited  amount  of  his  winter's 
wages,  was  sufficient  to  ensure  his  support  for  another  year, 
in  his  favorite  pursuits.  And  with  this  little  fund,  and  a  light 
heart,  he  was  soon  on  his  way  to  the  public  seminary  he  had 
quitted  the  fall  previous.  On  reaching  his  destination,  he 
was  cordially  received  by  his  old  friend  Seaver,  who  still 
remained  the  successful  head  of  the  institution,  to  which 
he  was  proud  to  welcome  one  whom,  the  year  before,  he  had 
esteemed  its  brightest  ornament. 

Hitherto,  our  hero  had  entertained  no  thought  of  entering 
any  higher  institution  of  learning,  than  the  one  at  which  he 
had  been  pursuing  his  studies.  But,  although  he  cared 
nothing  for  the  honors  of  a  college  diploma,  he  yet  was  cer 
tainly  ambitious  to  be  deserving  of  one.  And,  having  long 
since  informed  himself  of  the  course  of  studies  required  to 
complete  a  collegiate  education,  he  had,  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  preceding  year,  secretly  directed  his  own  studies  with 
a  view  of  eventually  mastering,  in  their  order,  all  those  sci 
ences  embraced  in  the  course  thus  required.  In  pursuing 
this  object,  he  soon  discovered  how  much  his  labors  would  be 
shortened  by  the  unusual  extent  of  his  acquirements  in  math- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  125 

ematics,  Avliicli,  with  those  branches  immediately  founded  on 
them,  composed  nearly  half  of  the  course  in  question.  Feel 
ing  conscious  that,  with  the  proficiency  he  had  already  made, 
it  would  require  but  very  little  exertion  to  make  him  master 
of  the  branches  last  mentioned,  he  had  devoted  his  time  and 
energies  almost  wholly  to  the  acquisition  of  the  dead  lan 
guages.  And  such  had  been  his  progress,  that  he  now  soon 
found  himself  rapidly  passing  over  the  studies  of  the  second 
year  of  the  prescribed  course.  For  all  this,  however,  he  had 
thus  far,  as  before  stated,  formed  no  design  of  transferring 
the  scene  of  his  labors  to  a  college.  But  Seaver,  who  felt  a 
pride  in  the  thought  of  furnishing  the  institution  of  which 
he  was  a  graduate,  with  a  scholar  of  Locke's  excellence,  and 
believing,  moreover,  that  he  should  be  promoting  the  best  in 
terests  of  the  latter,  now  began  to  beset  him  to  make  up  his 
mind  to  leave  the  academy  and  enter  college,  by  joining,  if 
he  preferred,  sucli  of  the  upper  classes  as  his  qualifications 
should  be  found  to  warrant. 

"  Have  you  yet  concluded,"  said  the  friendly  preceptor, 
coming  to  repeat  his  advice  one  day,  some  two  or  three 
months  from  his  pupil's  return  to  the  academy, —  "have  you 
yet  concluded,  Mr.  Amsden,  to  follow  my  suggestions  with 
regard  to  entering  college  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  Locke,  "  my  means  are  too  limited ;  and 
were  it  otherwise,  your  academy  furnishes  me  with  all  the 
advantages  which  I  at  present  desire,  and  more  than  I  can 
fully  improve.  Great  advantages  do  not  always  make  great 
scholars." 

"  True,  too  true,"  rejoined  Seaver  ;  "  but  yet  you,  proba 
bly,  as  do  many  others,  greatly  misapprehend  the  character 
of  the  peculiar  advantages  of  a  college  education.  The  sci 
ences,  indeed,  maybe  equally  well  acquired  elsewhere  —  even 
more  rapidly  and  perfectly,  sometimes,  perhaps,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  case  of  yourself,  who,  uninterrupted  by  the  mul- 
11* 


126  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OK 

tiplicitj  of  exercises  into  which  the  student's  time  is  cut  up 
in  these  institutions,  have  swept  on,  till  you  are  already  mas 
ter  of  more  science,  I  doubt  not,  than  many  of  those  who 
pass  from  the  walls  of  college  with  diplomas  in  their  pockets. 
And  still  you  have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  profiting  by 
the  advantages  I  have  named." 

"  In  what  do  these  distinguishing  advantages  consist,  let 
me  ask  ?  " 

"  In  this  :  —  In  the  first  place,  you  soon  learn,  in  your  in 
tercourse  and  collision  with  so  many  intellects  of  all  grades 
and  of  all  degrees  of  erudition,  the  exact  measure  of  your  own 
mind  —  its  weakness  and  its  strength.  This,  in  the  walks  of 
life,  must  always  be  of  incalculable  advantage :  it  will  teach 
one  what  his  self-esteem  had  before  entirely  concealed  from 
him  —  the  certainty  of  a  failure  in  many  an  aim  which  the 
same  blinding  principle  would  have  otherwise  led  him  to  at 
tempt.  And  it  will  teach  another  that  he  possesses  capabili 
ties  of  which  he  was,  perhaps,  before  wholly  unconscious, 
and  thus  lead  him  successfully  to  essay  some  noble  goal,  to 
which,  but  for  that,  he  would  never  have  aspired  or  attained. 
And,  in  the  second  place,  among  this  congregation  of  talent, 
consisting  of  the  many  hundreds  of  the  votaries  of  learning, 
with  whom  you  will  be  constantly  associated,  you  will  hear, 
during  your  collegiate  career,  almost  every  possible  subject, 
pertaining  not  only  to  science,  but  all  else  that  has  ever 
exercised  the  thoughts  of  men,  discussed  —  discussed  with 
all  the  lights  that  can  be  thrown  upon  it,  and  settled,  as  far 
as  may  be,  by  reference  to  professors,  or  other  good  authori 
ties  ;  so  that  you  will  be  thus  enabled  to  enter  the  mingled 
world  of  men,  who  are  too  bustling  and  busy  to  think  much 
themselves,  or  allow  others  much  time  to  do  so,  with  a  ready 
store  of  sifted  knowledge,  which  he  who  has  acquired  his 
education  in  comparative  solitude  will  rarely  ever  obtain. 
And  there  is  yet  another  consideration  which  will  be  impor- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  127 

tant,  especially  to  you,  who  intend  becoming  a  professional 
teacher.  You  will  receive  a  diploma  of  the  graduate's  de 
gree,  which  perhaps  may  be  indispensable  in  obtaining  the 
preceptorship  of  an  academy  —  or,  at  least,  so  eligible  a 
one  as  your  merits  should  command." 

"Ay;   but  I  propose  to  become  a  teacher  of   common 
schools  —  " 

"  Till  you  can  do  better  —  is  it  not  so,  my  friend  ?  " 
"  No,  Mr.  Seaver,  no.  Both  experience  and  observation 
have  shown  me  the  sadly  defective  condition  of  our  common 
schools — those  first  nurseries  of  science,  upon  the  manage 
ment  of  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  almost  all  that  we  prize 
depends.  They  must  not  only  foster  and  bring  forward  all 
the  germs  that  are  transplanted  into  our  higher  institutions 
of  learning,  which  will  flourish  or  decline  according  to  the 
numbers  and  quality  of  the  supply  thus  furnished ;  but  they 
are  the  radiating  points  of  intelligence  to  the  great  mass  of 
the  community,  that  will  become  enlightened  in  proportion 
as  the  light  emitted  from  these  points  is  strong  or  feeble. 
But  how  can  either  of  the  two  great  objects  I  have  named 
be  expected  from  schools  conducted,  as  most  of  our  common 
schools  now  are,  by  those  who  need  the  very  instruction  they 
are  employed  to  impart  to  others  ?  Men  do  not  thus  manage 
the  objects  of  their  care  in  the  physical  world.  There  the 
greatest  skill  and  attention  are  always  bestowed  on  the  young 
est  plant,  till  it  is  nursed,  moulded,  and  brought  forward  into 
a  shape  and  condition  in  which  it  will  push  up  rightly  of  it 
self,  or  require  less  skilful  hands  to  attend  it.  And  yet  the 
parallel  between  the  young  plant  and  the  young  mind  is  in 
every  body's  mouth!  My  own  wants  and  troubles  in  obtain 
ing  good  instruction,  when  a  boy,  have  led  me  to  think  much, 
and  feel  deeply  on  this  subject.  And  I  have  long  since  re 
solved  that  my  feeble  powers,  as  far  as  they  may  go,  shall  be 
contributed  to  the  object  of  remedying  the  existing  evil ;  for 


128 


LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 


there  I  think  they  will  do  the  most  good,  and  there  I  am  very 
sure  they  are  the  most  needed." 

"  There  is  much  force  in  your  remarks,  Mr.  Amsden.  The 
condition  of  our  common  schools  is  indeed  deplorable.  And 
the  people  of  this  country  appear  to  be  strangely  blind  on 
the  subject.  They  either  do  not  see  it  in  the  just  light  in 
which  you  have  placed  it,  or  they  expect  what  they  will  never 
see  —  men  qualified  for  the  task  engaging  as  teachers  of  com 
mon  schools,  for  wages  which  will  not  pay  the  interest  of  the 
money  and  time  — estimated  at  its  worth  in  money  —  spent 
by  them  in  obtaining  their  qualifications.  But  why  should 
you,  who  are  poor,  be  the  first  to  make  the  sacrifice,  which 
you  must  make,  if  you  engage  in  this  employment  ?  " 

"  And  why  should  I  not  ?  I  am  satisfied  that  examples  of 
the  kind  must  be  set,  and  sacrifices  be  made,  before  the  eyes 
of  the  community  will  be  opened  to  the  difference  between 
what  now  is  done,  and  what  may  be  done,  with  our  common 
schools.  And  why,  I  repeat,  should  not  I  be  the  first  to  go 
forward  ?  The  pecuniary  sacrifice  which  I  may  be  compelled 
to  make,  will,  with  my  present  feelings,  cause  no  abridg 
ment  of  my  happiness  ;  and  I  shall  rest  content  with  the 
pleasure  of  my  employment,  and  the  consciousness  of  doing 
good  for  my  reward." 

"  The  purpose  is  indeed  a  high  and  noble  one,  Mr.  Ams 
den  ;  and  my  conscience  will  not  permit  me  to  say  another 
word  in  dissuasion.  But,  allowing  that  you  persist  in  your 
determination,  does  that  —  to  return  to  the  point  from  which 
we  started  —  does  that  circumstance  furnish  any  answer  to 
the  main  part  of  the  argument  I  have  advanced  as  the 
ground  on  which  I  advised  you  to  change  the  present  scene 
of  your  studies  to  that  of  a  colleo-e  5  " 

O 

Perhaps  not.  Your  views,  Mr.  Seaver,  were  certainly 
new  to  me  ;  and  they  have  had  sufficient  weight  on  my  mind 
to  determine  me  to  reconsider  the  matter  in  question.  But 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  129 

I  must  reflect  before  I  can  permit  myself  to  decide.  It  is 
possible  that  your  arguments,  as  far  as  opinion  is  concerned, 
may  prevail." 

And  the  arguments  of  Seaver  did  prevail.  The  object 
ed  want  of  pecuniary  means  having  been  obviated  by  the 
proffered  assistance  of  the  generous  and  high-minded  friend 
who  had  induced  him  to  take  the  step,  —  Amsden,  after  a  few 
days  spent  in  preparation,  and  in  writing  to  apprise  his  friends 
of  his  change  of  purpose,  set  out  for  the  college  to  which  he 
had  been  recommended  by  his  preceptor,  and  for  which  his 
course  of  studies  more  particularly  fitted  him.  Reaching  the 
institution,  after  little  more  than  a  day's  journey,  he  immedi 
ately  presented  himself  for  examination  ;  when,  having  been 
found  amply  qualified,  he  was  permitted  to  unite  himself  with 
the  Sophomores,  at  a  time  when  they  had  been  nearly  two 
years  in  college.  And,  within  a  fortnight  from  the  time  of 
the  conversation  above  detailed,  he  might  have  been  found 
within  the  classic  walls  of  his  newly  adopted  Alma  Mater, 
burning,  in  his  eager  pursuit  of  knowledge,  the  midnight  oil, 
where 

"around  the  lamp  that  o'er 

His  chamber  shed  its  lonely  beam, 
Was  widely  spread  the  varied  lore 

Which  feeds,  in  youth,  our  feverish  dream." 

But  alike  vain  and  thankless  would  be  the  attempt  to 
interest  the  general  reader  in  a  description  of  the  seemingly 
dull  and  unvaried  routine  of  a  life  of  study.  The  student's 
world  is  all  within  his  own  mind.  There  he  finds  enough  to 
engage,  enough  to  interest  him.  Others,  however,  think  not 
of  this,  nor  take  note  of  the  treasures  he  is  silently  hoarding 
up  for  the  rich  and  glorious  appropriation  of  the  future. 
They  can  see  nothing  to  admire  in  his  listless,  abstracted  ap 
pearance  ;  and  when,  in  after  times,  he  conies  forth  into  the 
active  scenes  of  life,  which  call  for  an  exhibition  of  his  trea- 


130  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OK 

sured  knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  in  which  the  results  of 
years  of  toil  are  seen  perhaps  in  a  day,  they  are  astonished 
at  his  unexpected  display  of  intellectual  power,  and  wonder 
why  they  had  never  heard  or  thought  any  thing  of  that  man 
before. 

For  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  through  vacations  and  all, 
our  hero  applied  himself,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  and  mental 
energy  with  which  he  was  so  unusually  gifted,  in  unremit 
ting  labor  to  the  grateful  task  before  him,  not  only  perfecting 
the  particular  sciences  required  of  him,  but  extending  his 
researches  into  the  broad  arid  widening  fields  of  general 
knowledge.  At  the  end  of  this  period,  however,  having  gone 
over,  in  advance  of  his  class,  the  little  of  actual  study  that 
now  remained  to  complete  the  whole  course  prescribed  by  the 
rules  of  the  institution  to  entitle  him  to  a  degree,  he  asked, 
and  very  readily  obtained,  leave  of  a  discretionary  term  of 
absence,  to  enable  him  to  replenish  his  pecuniary  resources, 
by  resuming  the  avocation  of  teaching,  which  it  was  still  his 
unaltered  purpose,  in  despite  of  all  probable  sacrifices,  to 
make  the  business  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

"  '  What  differ  more,'  you  cry, '  than  crown  and  cowl  *? ' " 
I  tell  you,  friend,  —  a  wise  man  and  a  fool." 

POPE. 

THE  year  was  again  drawing  towards  its  close ;  and  the 
usual  season  for  beginning  winter  schools  had  nearly  arrived. 
In  his  journeys  to  and  from  college,  at  the  time  of  his  ma 
triculation,  and  afterwards  on  his  occasional  brief  visits  to 
his  family,  young  Ainsden  had  passed  through  a  thriving 
little  village,  which  was  generally  known  by  the  name  of 
Mill  Town,  but  which  its  ambitious  inhabitants  had  recently 
thought  to  dignify,  by  re-christening  it  by  the  more  sonorous 
and  classical  appellation  of  Mill  Town  Emporium.  The  vil 
lage,  numbering  perhaps  two  hundred  souls,  contained  a 
store,  a  tavern,  a  cluster  of  mills,  and  several  very  spruce- 
looking  dwelling-houses,  among  which  the  newly-painted  two- 
story  house  of  the  merchant  glared  in  conspicuous  whiteness. 
And,  as  our  hero  was  now  on  his  way  homeward,  and  in 
search  of  some  good  situation  in  a  winter's  school,  which  he 
had  neglected  to  secure,  —  though  many  eligible  ones  had  been 
offered  him,  which  he  had  declined  on  account  of  their  loca 
tion,  —  he  concluded  to  call  at  this  place,  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  lie  might  not  here  obtain  a  situation,  which  for  him 
might  prove  a  desirable  one,  as  the  village  was  pleasantly  lo 
cated  on  the  main  road  leading  to,  and  within  half  a  day's 
ride  from,  the  residence  of  his  family,  with  whom  he  wished  to 
keep  up  a  personal  intercourse.  Upon  inquiry  of  the  bustling 
keeper  of  the  inn  where  he  stopped,  Locke  was  told  that  the 


132  LOCKE    AMSDKX,    OK 

village  school  had  not  yet  been  supplied  with  a  teacher ;  and 
that  the  managing  committee,  consisting  of  the  merchant  of 
the  place,  the  tailor,  and  the  newspaper  editor  (for  a  political 
newspaper,  called  The  Blazing  Star,  had  just  been  established 
in  this  miniature  city),  "were  now  on  the  look-out  to  engage 
a  man  of  those  splendidest  qualifications  which  the  growing 
importance  of  the  place  demanded."  Though  somewhat 
startled  at  this  pompous  announcement,  our  candidate  yet 
took  directions  to  the  house  of  the  merchant,  who,  it  was 
said,  would  probably  exercise  a  rather  controlling  influence 
among  this  able  board  of  managers.  A  few  steps  brought 
him  to  the  showy  white  house  before  named,  as  belonging  to 
the  popular  personage  —  as  an  only  merchant  of  a  little  vil 
lage  generally  is — of  whom  he  was  in  quest.  On  applying 
the  knocker,  the  door  was  opened  by  the  merchant  himself, 
who  appeared  with  a  pen  behind  his  ear,  and  invited  the  other 
into  his  sitting  room,  where  it  appeared  he  had  been  posting 
his  books.  He  was  a  youngerly  man,  of  an  affectedly  brisk 
and  courteous  manner.  Supposing  his  visitor  had  called 
for  the  purposes  of  trade,  he  received  him  with  all  the  smirks 
and  bows  cf  a  practised  salesman,  and  began  to  talk  rapidly 
about  nothing  —  i.  e.  the  state  of  the  weather,  and  the  condi 
tion  of  the  roads  for  travelling.  As  soon,  however,  as  Locke 
announced  his  name  and  business,  he  suddenly  became  much 
less  profuse  of  his  bows  and  smiles,  and,  assuming  a  conse 
quential  air,  observed,  — • 

"  Why,  sir,  we  are  not  over-anxious  to  engage  a  teacher 
just  now  —  though,  to  be  sure,  we  have  so  many  applications 
pressing  upon  us,  that  we  shall  be  compelled  to  decide  soon. 
But  you  see,  sir,  we  have  a  flourishing  village  here.  It  is 
thought  we  shall  have  an  academy  soon.  There  are  many 
public-spirited  and  genteel  people  in  the  place  ;  and  they  will 
not  be  suited  with  any  thing  short  of  a  teacher  of  the  most 
superfine  qualifications." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  133 

"  I  trust  to  be  able  to  answer  all  reasonable  expectations, 
in  that  respect,"  remarked  Amsden,  scarcely  able  to  repress 
a  smile  at  the  other's  singular  application  of  terms. 

"  Presume  it  —  presume  it  —  that  is,  can't  say  to  the  con 
trary.  But  do  you  bring  any  letters  of  credit  with  you  ?  " 

'•'  Credentials  ?  I  have  something  of  the  kind  about  me, 
I  believe  ;  but  having  seen  how  easily  they  are  obtained,  and 
how  little  reliance  the  public  place  upon  them,  I  thought  not 
of  offering  them,  preferring  to  be  examined,  and  not  doubt 
ing  that  your  committee  would  be  abundantly  able  to  satisfy 
yourselves  of  my  qualifications  by  such  a  course  much  better 
than  by  a  dependence  on  the  certificates  of  others." 

l>  That 's  fair  —  that 's  fair,  sir.  Why,  to  be  sure,  I  profess 
to  know  something  myself  about  education,  having  been  to 
an  academy  a  quarter  before  entering  business  ;  and  the  gen 
tlemen  who  are  committee  with  me,  one  the  editor  of  the 
Blazing  Star,  and  the  other  the  merchant  tailor  of  our  vil 
lage,  are  both  men  of  some  parts  —  especially  our  editor, 
whom  I  consider  to  be  a  man  of  splendid  talents.  I  will 
send  for  them,  sir." 

So  saying,  the  merchant  committee-man  went  out  and  des 
patched  a  boy  for  his  colleagues,  who  soon  made  their  ap 
pearance,  and  were  thereupon  introduced,  in  due  form,  to  our 
candidate  for  the  throne  of  a  village  school.  The  new-com 
ers  also  were  both  men  below  the  middle  age.  He  of  the 
goose  (we  mean  no  disrespect  to  that  honest  calling,  who  take 
all  the  jokes  and  get  all  the  money)  was  a  man  of  a  fair, 
feminine  appearance,  of  pert,  jaunty  manners,  and  of  showy 
dress,  done  in  the  very  extremes  of  last  year's  city  fashions, 
though  recently  made,  and  now  worn  as  a  sort  of  sign-board 
sample  to  display  constantly  before  the  great  public  of  Mill 
Town  Emporium,  and  its  tributaries,  convincing  proof  of  his 
signal  ability  to  make  good  the  glowing  professions  of  his 
standing  advertisement  in  the  Blazing  Star,  "  to  be  always 
12 


134  LOCKE    AM3DEN,    Oil 

prepared  to  cut  and  make  to  order  after  the  very  latest  New 
York  and  London  fashions."  The  editor  was  a  personage  of 
quite  a  different  appearance.  He  was  grave  and  severe  of 
look,  his  countenance  plainly  indicating  how  deeply  he  was 
conscious  of  the  important  responsibilities  of  his  position,  as 
conductor  of  the  Ijlazing  Star,  on  which  the  political  desti 
nies  of  the  country  so  much  depended. 

The  sage  trio,  who  were  to  decide  on  our  hero's  qualifica 
tions  in  the  sciences,  being  thus  brought  together,  the  mer 
chant  announced  to  his  colleagues  the  cause  of  the  convocation, 
and  the  progress  already  made  in  the  business  on  hand. 

"  Do  you  teach  after  the  latest  style  and  fashion  of  teach 
ing,  sir  ?  "  commenced  the  tailor,  "  there  must  be  much  in 
that,  I  think.  There  is  nothing  like  keeping  up  with  the  im 
provements  and  latest  style  of  the  times,  if  one  calculates  to 
succeed,  in  almost  any  thing,  at  this  day." 

"  As  far  as  I  could  see  changes  to  be  improvements,  I  cer 
tainly  should  follow  them,"  replied  Locke. 

"  Do  you  teach  book-keeping  ?  "  asked  the  merchant :  "  I 
consider  that  to  be  of  the  last  importance." 

"  Literally,  so  do  I,  sir.  An  understanding,  and  mechani 
cal  skill  of  execution,  of  the  principles  of  penmanship,  I  con 
sider  of  the  first  importance  ;  and,  these  attained,  it  may  be 
be  lastly  important  that  the  pupil  be  instructed  in  book-keep 
ing,"  answered  Locke,  without  observing  the  air  of  pique 
which  became  visible  in  the  countenance  of  the  interrogator 
at  this  answer. 

"  I  feel  impelled  by  my  sense  of  duty  to  my  country,"  said 
the  editor,  "  to  make  a  preliminary  question.  And  I  trust 
the  gentleman  will  excuse  my  desire  to  know  which  of  the 
two  great  political  parties  of  the  day  he  supports.  This  I 
would  not  consider  a  sine  qua  non,  or  even  very  important, 
at  some  periods  in  our  public  affairs ;  but  when,  as  now,  I  see 
an  obnoxious  party  power  stalking  through  the  land,  like  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  135 

besom  of  destruction,  to  overthrow  the  sacred  liberties  of  the 
country,  I  do  hold  it  an  imperious  duty  to  know  the  principles 
of  those  we  encourage ;  not  because  I  should  fear  that  one 
of  that  party,  whose  further  increase  I  so  much  deprecate, 
could  exercise  a  pernicious  influence  in  our  intelligent  village, 
where,  since  the  establishment  of  the  Blazing  Star,  the 
political  views  of  the  people,  I  am  proud  to  say,  are  so  gen 
erally  correct  —  no,  not  at  all  on  that  account,  but  for  the 
inherent  principle  of  the  thing." 

"  I  have  never,"  replied  Locke,  utterly  surprised  that  a 
test-question  of  this  kind  should  be  put  to  him,  "  I  have 
never,  till  within  the  present  year,  been  qualified  by  age  for 
a  voter.  I  have  examined  the  leading  principles  of  our  gov 
ernment,  it  is  true,  and  I  much  admire  them ;  but,  supposing 
that  the  opposing  parties  of  the  day  were  all  mainly  agreed 
in  their  aims  to  sustain  those  principles,  and  were,  after  all, 
only  disputing  about  men,  or  at  the  worst,  the  different  means 
of  gaining  the  same  end,  I  have  so  little  interested  myself  in 
party  questions,  that  I  have  as  yet  formed  no  decided  prefer 
ences  for  either  side." 

"You  are  mistaken,  sir,"  rejoined  the  editor.  "If  you 
suppose  that  both  parties  are  for  sustaining  the  same  princi 
ples,  you  are  most "  — 

The  speaker  was  here  interrupted  by  a  smart  rap  of  the 
knocker  without.  The  merchant  sprang  to  the  door,  and 
soon  ushered  into  the  room  a  personage  alike  unexpected 
and  unknown  to  all  present.  His  appearance  at  once  showed 
him  to  be  a  person  of  many  airs,  with  no  lack  of  confidence 
in  himself.  He  carried  a  tasselled  cane,  and  wore  a  showy 
safety-chain,  with  an  abundance  of  watch-seals,  to  say  the 
least,  dangling  from  his  pocket,  while  his  dress  was  what  has 
significantly  been  termed  the  shabby-genteel.  After  inquir 
ing  if  the  gentlemen  present  were  the  school  committee,  he 
announced  his  business,  which,  to  the  surprise,  and,  it  must 


136  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

be  confessed,  somewhat  to  the  uneasiness  of  our  hero,  proved 
to  be  the  same  that  had  prompted  his  own  call.  The  com 
mittee,  however,  seemed  very  far  from  looking  upon  the  visit 
of  the  stranger  as  an  intrusion ;  and,  apprising  him  that  they 
had  just  commenced  the  examination  of  one  candidate,  they 
told  him  '•  the  more  the  merrier,"  as  it  would  afford  them  a 
better  chance  for  selection,  and  invited  him  to  make  number 
two  ;  which  being  assented  to,  they  proceeded  with  the  exam 
ination. 

"  What  are  your  views,  Mr.  Blake  —  for  that,  I  think,  you 
told  me  was  your  name"  —  said  the  editor,  whose  mind  was 
still  running  on  the  subject  on  which  he  was  about  to  be  elo 
quent,  when  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  the  new  candi 
date  ;  "  What  are  your  views  of  the  propriety  of  instilling 
correct  political  principles  into  the  minds  of  your  pupils,  who 
are  the  rising  generation,  and  soon  to  wield  the  destinies  of 
our  glorious  republic  ?  " 

' "  I  hold,  sir,"  replied  Blake,  who,  it  appeared,  had  cun 
ningly  inquired  out  the  calling,  politics,  &c.,  of  each  of  the 
committee,  before  coming  near  them,  —  "  T  do  hold,  though  oth 
ers  may  disagree  with  me,  that  it  is  rather  important  to  attend 
to  the  particular  you  have  instigated,  sir.  I  'm  always  open 
in  my  politics.  I  read  several  articles  in  a  newspaper  over 
at  the  tavern,  just  now,  while  waiting  for  my  dinner,  that 
speaks  my  sentiments  on  that  head  exactly." 

"  What  paper  was  it  ?  "  eagerly  asked  the  editor. 

"  I  did  n't  mind  particularly,"  replied  the  other,  with  affect 
ed  carelessness  ;  "  but  I  think  it  was  the  Star,  or  some  such 
title." 

"  The  Blazing  Star  ?  "  said  the  former,  with  a  complaisant 
bow. 

"  The  same,"  rejoined  Blake,  "  the  very  same  ;  I  now 
recall  it." 

"  That  is  the  paper,  sir,  which  I  have  the  honor  of  con- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  137 

ducting,"  said  the  other,  with  another  bow,  and  a  gracious 
smile. 

"  Indeed !  Why,  sir,"  said  Blake,  with  pretended  embar 
rassment,  "  why,  sir,  had  I  supposed  —  but  I  was  so  struck 
with  the  able  —  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me,  sir,  for  intro 
ducing  "  — 

"  O  certainly,  certainly,  sir,"  interrupted  the  editor.  "  I 
feel  myself  both  flattered  and  gratified  by  your  opinions. 
There,  gentlemen,"  he  continued,  turning  with  a  triumphant 
air  to  his  two  associates,  "  I  have  done  what  I  considered  my 
duty  with  the  candidates,  on  the  point  in  which  I  feel  a  deep 
interest.  I  am  now  willing  to  turn  them  over  to  you,  for 
examination  in  the  sciences." 

"I  should  like  to  hear  what  Mr.  Blake  thinks  about 
teaching  book-keeping  in  a  school,  since  I  have  the  misfor 
tune  to  disagree  with  the  other  gentleman  here,"  said  the 
merchant. 

"  Book-keeping  ? "  said  Blake,  instantly  catching  a  hint 
from  the  last  part  of  the  other's  observation.  "  O,  book 
keeping  is  quite  essential  —  quite,  sir,  quite ;  I  always  learn 
it  to  my  pupils." 

"  I  think  so ;  I  think  it's  an  important  item  in  the  account," 
responded  the  merchant,  glancing  round  at  his  colleagues, 
significantly,  as  he  threw  himself  back  with  a  self-satis 
fied  air. 

"  I  have  a  boy,"  said  the  tailor,  "  whom  is  pretty  cute  in 
grammar,  as  all  allow  ;  and  I  would  be  pleased  to  hear  the 
gentlemen  explain  on  that  department,  and  tell  whether  their 
mode  and  manner  of  teaching  it  is  of  the  latest  style  ? " 

Mr.  Blake  here  being  not  so  prompt  as  usual  in  taking  the 
lead,  Amsden  briefly  but  clearly  explained  the  first  princi 
ples  of  English  Grammar,  the  object  and  uses  of  that  branch, 
and  his  manner  of  teaching  it  by  the  text-books  of  Murray 
12* 


138  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

and  others.  The  other  candidate,  after  waiting  till  pressed 
to  give  his  views  in  so  pointed  a  manner,  that  he  saw  no  way 
to  avoid  saying  something  on  the  subject  —  with  some  hesi 
tation  observed, 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  my  notions  about  grammar  may  be  dif 
ferent  from  others,  perhaps  yours.  Now  my  sentiments  is 
something  like  this  :  —  the  true  use  of  grammar  is  to  learn 
'em  sense.  "Well,  in  what  the  gentleman  here  calls  parsing 
Syntax,  7J  now,  should  make  my  scholars  find  out  the  sense 
of  a  piece.  And  if  they  can  do  that,  it  is  all  I  should  re 
quire  ;  because  the  only  use  of  grammar  being  to  learn  'em 
the  sense,  as  I  said,  why,  the  work  is  done,  a  n't  it  ?  I  take 
it  so,  gentlemen.  But  suppose  they  can 't  do  this,  then  I 
should  take  the  piece  in  hand  myself;  and  if  I  could  not 
make  sense  out  of  it,  then  I  should  call  it  false  grammar, 
that 's  all.  So  when  I  have  my  scholars  write  compositions, 
I.  square  the  grammar  of  their  pieces  upon  the  sense  they 
contain  ;  for  where  there  's  sense,  there  must,  in  course,  be 
grammar ;  and  visy  versy.  Now  that 's  my  system,  gentle 
men.  For  I  have  no  notion  of  spoiling  sense  to  make  it  fay 
in  with  book  rules ;  but  I  make  the  grammar  come  down  to 
the  sense,  not  the  sense  give  up  to  the  grammar." 

"  Just  my  sentiments,  to  a  shaving !  "  exclaimed  the  mer 
chant.  I  used  to  study  grammar  when  at  the  academy,  and 
bothered  and  bothered  to  parse  by  the  rules ;  but  I  never 
could  see  the  use  of  it.  And  now,  in  my  business  letters,  I 
never  think  of  trying  to  write  by  any  of  the  rules  I  learnt ; 
and  yet  I  write  grammar,  because  I  write  sense,  as  he  says. 
Yes,  them  's  my  sentiments  about  grammar." 

"  Well,  it  does  look  kinder  reasonable,"  said  the  tailor, 
"  though  my  boy  learnt  the  rules,  syntax,  and  catemology, 
and  all ;  and  I  do  n't  know  what  he  would  say  to  leaving  'em 
off.  But  perhaps  this  way  of  teaching  grammar  the  gentle- 


THE    SCHOOLilASTKK.  139 

man  speaks  of  is  some  new  imported  fashion,  that 's  soon  to 
be  all  the  style  ?  "  he  added,  inquiringly  looking  at  the  patent 
grammarian  who  had  just  before  spoken. 

"  Precisely,"  answered  the  other,  with  a  conciliating  nod ; 
"  it  is  indeed,  sir,  a  new  system,  of  the  very  latest  cut." 

"  I  am  satisfied,  then,  sir,"  rejoined  the  other. 

"  Which  is  the  most  useful  rule  in  arithmetic,  Mr.  Ams- 
den  ?  "  asked  the  merchant.  "  I  profess  to  know  something 
about  that,  myself." 

"  Why,  that  would  be  nearly  as  difficult  to  tell,  I  imagine, 
as  regards  all  the  fundamental  rules,  as  it  would  be  to  point 
out  the  most  useful  wheel  of  a  watch,  in  which  all  the  wheels 
are  required  to  keep  the  whole  in  motion,"  replied  Locke. 

"  Now  I  do  n't  think  so,"  said  the  questioner  ;  "  but  I'  11  ask 
Mr.  Blake  ?  " 

"  O,  I  say  the  rule  that  helps  a  man  most  to  do  business 
by,  and  you  know  quite  well  what  that  is,  I  fancy  ;  for  you 
tell  what  the  articles  you  sell  come  to  by  that,"  observed 
Blake,  obsequiously  bowing  to  the  merchant. 

"  Ay ;  I  see  you  are  a  practical  man,  Mr.  Blake,"  here 
chimed  in  the  editor ;  "  and  such  men  are  the  very  nerves 
and  sinews  of  our  republic." 

"  I  care  less  about  that,"  rejoined  the  merchant ;  "  but  I 
must  say  I  approve  the  gentleman's  views  of  grammar  and 
arithmetic.  But  suppose  we  now  pass  on  to  geography  — 

"  How  do  you  bound  the  Polar  Sea,  Mr.  Amsden  ?  " 

"  Which  Polar  Sea  ?  "  asked  Locke,  quite  innocently. 

"  Why,  the  Frozen  Sea,  to  be  sure,"  said  the  other. 

"  I  must  still  ask  to  which  Polar  or  Frozen  Sea  you  refer, 
sir,  before  I  can  answer  your  question,"  said  the  former ; 
"  the  Northern  or  Southern  ?  " 

"  Well,  that  beats  me,"  observed  the  erudite  dealer ;  "  I 
had  supposed  the  Frozen  Ocean  was,  of  course,  in  the  north ; 
for  we  all  know  that  the  farther  we  go  north,  the  colder  it  is ; 


140  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

and  the  farther  we  go  south,  the  warmer  it  is.  Do  n't  you 
think  so,  Mr.  Blake  ?  " 

"Why,  I  had  thought  so,  certainly,"  responded  Blake, 
glancing  at  Amsden  with  a  supercilious  smile  —  "  not  that  I 
have  any  wish  to  expose  any  body's  ignorance,  by  any 
means  ;  but  being  appealed  to  in  the  matter,  so,  it 's  but  civil 
to  answer  the  question.  And,  now  I  am  speaking  on  the 
subject  of  geographical  literature,  I  may  as  well,  gentlemen," 
he  continued  —  deeming  it  now  a  favorable  time  to  press  the 
advantage  he  supposed  he  had  gained  over  his  rival,  by  an 
extra  display  of  his  erudition  —  "•  I  may  as  well  tell  you  at 
once,  that  I  rather  pride  myself  on  my  knowledge  of  terres 
trial  geography,  and  my  improved  modes  of  teaching  it.  I 
teach  it  almost  entirely  by  maps,  and  the  map-making  process. 
And  it  would  astonish  you  to  see  how  quick  scholars,  in  this 
way,  will  become  accomplished  geographians.  I  learn  'em, 
in  a  very  short  time,  also,  to  make  the  most  splendid  maps, 
equal,  nearly,  to  the  printed  ones,  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  both 
on  Mercator's  project,  as  they  call  it,  and  on  the  principle  of 
circular  latitudes.  Nor  is  this  but  a  small  part  of  the  em 
bellishments  I  teach  my  scholars,  when  they  have  the  proper 
instruments  to  work  with.  There 's  the  problems  and  the 
circles,  the  squares,  triangular  geometry,  ovals,  perspective 
configurations,  and  a  thousand  curious  things,  I  could  teach, 
if  I  only  had  the  instruments  ;  such  as  Gunter's  dividers,  cir- 
cumflutors,  and  the  like.  And  then  I  would  teach  musical 
psalmody,  of  evenings,  for  nothing,  which,  as  I  see  you  are 
about  building  a  new  church  here,  might  be  an  object.  In 
short,  gentlemen,  I  should  be  very  happy  to  add  my  best 
powers  in  accomplishing  your  children,  and  helping  to  build 
up  your  flourishing  village.  But  I  leave  the  decision  to  you, 
gentlemen,  with  the  greatest  pleasure  ;  because  I  have  dis 
covered  you  to  be  men  of  the  most  ecstatic  discernment." 

As  soon  as  the  speaker  had  fairly  delivered  himself  of  this 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  141 

learned  harangue,  Amsden,  who  knew  not  which  most  to  ad 
mire,  the  effrontery  and  ignorance  of  the  fellow,  or  the  igno 
rance  and  blindness  of  the  committee,  who  seemed  so  readily 
to  swallow  all  he  said  —  inquired  if  there  was  not  some  man 
of  science  in  the  place,  who  could  be  called  in  to  conduct  the 
examination,  and  assist  the  committee  in  deciding  upon  the 
merits  of  the  applicants  now  before  them.  This  inquiry,  as 
reasonable  and  fair  as  was  its  obvious  object,  produced,  as  a 
close  observer  might  have  easily  seen,  considerable  sensation 
in  the  before  well-assured  mind  of  Locke's  exulting  compet 
itor  ;  and  his  uneasiness  was  the  next  moment  increased  into 
downright  apprehension,  by  a  remark  of  the  tailor,  who,  in 
a  rather  hesitating  manner,  said,  — 

"  Why,  there  's  the  minister  that  preaches  half  the  time 
here  —  and  he  's  now  in  the  place,  I  guess.  He  's  a  college- 
learnt  man,  they  say,  and  would  be  willing  to  come  in,  per 
haps,  if  —  " 

"  Why,  if  these  gentlemen,"  interrupted  Blake,  rising  in 
visible  agitation,  "  if  these  gentlemen  do  n't  consider  them 
selves  capable  of  deciding  on  our  qualifications  and  embel 
lishments,  then,  I  say,  I  am  willing  —  perfectly  willing,  I 
say,  to  "  — 

"  Well,  I  am  not,"  interposed  the  luminous  head  of  the 
Blazing  Star,  with  much  decision.  "  I  shall  most  pointedly 
object  to  that  measure.  I  should  consider  it  as  no  less  than 
involving  an  approach  to  a  sanction  of  that  never-to-be- 
eriough  reprobated  doctrine  of  the  union  of  church  and  state. 
And  I  should  raise  my  voice  "  — 

"  Ah  !  I  think  we  can  get  along,"  said  the  merchant,  break 
ing  in  on  the  latter,  and  now  rising  and  looking  at  his  watch 
with  an  impatient  and  irritated  air,  "  I  think  we  can  get 
along  without  the  help  of  the  minister  in  this  business.  And 
if  the  two  gentlemen,"  he  continued,  with  rather  a  discrimi 
nating  gesture,  "  will  step  into  the  other  room,  or  over  to  the 


142  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

tavern,  we  can  probably  come  to  a  decision  of  the  case  with 
out  much  trouble,  I  think." 

The  two  candidates  accordingly  retired,  —  Blake  into  the 
adjoining  room,  and  Amsden,  as  was  doubtless  intended,  to 
the  tavern,  —  to  give  to  the  astute  trio  of  examiners  an  op 
portunity  for  private  deliberation. 

"  Shall  we  mark,  gentlemen  ?  "  said  the  merchant,  cutting 
three  separate  slips  of  paper,  and  passing  two  of  them  to  his 
colleagues,  with  a  pencil,  that  eacli  might  write  the  name  of 
the  candidate  he  would  select,  and  present  it  for  comparison 
with  those  of  the  others,  after  the  manner  of  appraising  a 
horse. 

"  Well,  if  I  was  fully  satisfied  about  Mr.  Blake's  gram 
mar"-— said  the  tailor,  doubtingly,  holding  his  pencil  over 
his  paper. 

"  I  am  satisfied  about  it  well  enough  for  my  case,"  observed 
the  merchant,  dashing  down  the  chosen  name  with  a  decisive 
sweep  of  the  hand. 

"And  so  am  I,"  responded  the  editor;  "and  what  is  more, 
he  is  sound  in  political  principles,  to  the  core. 

"  O,  I  an't  strenuous,  gentlemen,"  said  the  tailor,  follow 
ing  the  example  of  the  others  in  filling  his  blank. 

The  three  slips,  with  the  written  sides  dowmvard,  were 
then  held  up  together,  and  turned  over,  bringing  the  name  on 
each  to  view.  And  it  was  Blake  —  Blake  —  Blake  ! 

"As  I  supposed,"  said  the  merchant;  "just  as  I  knew  it 
must  be.  Boy,"  he  continued,  opening  the  door  leading  into 
the  kitchen,  "  you  may  step  over  to  the  tavern,  and  say  to 
the  gentleman  who  just  went  from  here,  that  he  need  n't 
trouble  himself  to  call  again.  And,  here  !  take  this  decanter, 
and  get  it  filled  with  the  best  wine  at  the  store.  We  will 
call  in  Mr.  Blake,  and  settle  the  terms  with  him,  over  a  bottle 
of  my  nice  Madeira ;  for  I  feel  like  taking  a  bumper  on  the 
occasion." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  143 

Meanwhile  Locke,  who  was  travelling  horseback,  but  too 
well  anticipating  the  result  of  the  deliberation  just  described, 
had  ordered  his  horse  to  the  door,  and  stood  impatiently  wait 
ing  for  some  sign  or  message  from  the  white  house,  which 
should  apprise  him  of  the  decision  of  the  committee.  The 
message  came  even  sooner  than  he  expected,  and  was  deliv 
ered  by  the  boy  literally,  and  no  less  cavalierly  than  it  was 
indited  by  his  master.  The  next  instant  our  rejected  candi 
date  was  in  his  saddle,  and  leaving  Mill-Town  Emporium  at 
a  pace  which  his  sober  steed  appeared  to  wonder  should  be 
required  by  one  who  before  had  shown  himself  so  moderate 
and  gentle  a  rider. 

As  soon  as  his  feelings,  smarting  with  chagrin  and  vexa 
tion  at  -his  mortifying  defeat,  and  the  folly  and  ignorance 
which,  he  believed,  alone  had  occasioned  it,  —  as  soon  as  his 
excited  feelings  had  sufficiently  subsided  to  permit  of  con 
nected  thought,  he  reined  his  thankful  horse  into  a  walk,  to 
try  to  review  the  novel  occurrences  he  had  just  witnessed, 
and  bestow  upon  them  something  like  sober  reflection. 

"  What  does  education  avail  me  ?  "  he  despondingly  solilo 
quized,  as  he  thought  over  his  recent  reception,  and  how  he 
had  been  set  aside  for  an  ignorant  coxcomb,  or  at  best  a  piti 
ful  smatterer.  "  The  more  I  study,  the  worse  I  succeed. 
Yes,  what  avails  all  this  intellectual  toil,  if  my  acquirements 
thereby  are  to  be  thus  rewarded  ?  "  And  as  he  pondered 
upon  these  discouraging  circumstances,  he  almost  resolved  to 
abandon  for  ever  all  thought  of  that  noble  employment  to 
which  he  had  so  often  declared  his  intention  to  devote  himself. 
Locke  had,  thus  far,  had  no  acquaintance  with  aught  but  coun 
try  life,  with  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  associate  ideas 
of  comparative  ignorance  and  degradation,  while  his  mind  had 
been  directed  to  villages  and  cities,  as  the  exclusive  seats  of 
intelligence  and  refinement.  Like  many  another  modest 


144  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

country  lad  of  merit,  he  would  have  bowed  in  deference  to 
the  pert  dashing  villager  or  citizen,  as  his  supposed  superior, 
when  the  latter,  probably,  possessed  not  a  tithe  of  his  own 
worth  in  all  that  should  constitute  true  excellence  of  charac 
ter.  For  he  had  not  learned  that  the  people  of  cities  and 
villages,  as  a  mass,  are,  generally,  less  thinking,  and  often, 
less  reading  communities,  than  those  formed  of  the  residents 
of  the  country,  who,  finding  themselves  outshone  by  the 
former  in  external  appearance,  are  thus  driven  to  depend 
more  on  intrinsic  qualities  on  which  to  base  a  reputation, 
leaving  the  others  to  dazzle  by  show,  and,  too  often  only, 

"  To  measure  their  worth  by  the  cloth  of  their  coats." 

It  was  not  very  strange,  therefore,  that  with  impressions 
and  views  like  those  just  named,  contracted  through  a  limited 
knowledge  of  the  world,  young  Amsden  should  have  pre 
sented  himself  at  Mill-Town  with  a  high  opinion  of  the  in 
telligence  of  its  inhabitants,  or  that  his  disappointment  should 
be  great  at  finding  things  so  exactly  the  reverse  of  what  he 
had  anticipated.  A  knowledge  of  the  world  as  it  is  would 
have  taught  him  that  what  he  had  witnessed  was  no  miracle, 
even  in  the  most  favored  parts  of  our  land  of  boasted  intel 
ligence  ;  and  it  might  have  taught  him  also,  that  he  who 
would  succeed  must  always,  in  some  measure,  adapt  the 
means  he  employs  to  the  compass  of  the  minds  of  those  with 
whom  he  desires  success. 

As  Locke  was  slowly  jogging  onward,  deeply  engrossed  in 
reflections  which  grew  out  of  the  occasion,  and  no  less  deeply 
dejected  in  spirits  at  the  dark  and  discouraging  prospects  be 
fore  him,  he  met  a  man  in  a  sulky,  who,  in  passing  him,  sud 
denly  halted,  and  pronounced  his  name.  Looking  up  at  the 
traveller,  now  for  the  first  time,  the  former  at  once  recognized 
him  to  be  no  other  than  Dr.  Lincoln,  the  kind  and  gifted 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER.  145 

physician,  with  whom  he  had  formed  so  interesting  an  ac 
quaintance  at  his  school  in  the  Horn-of-the-Moon. 

"  Why,  this  is  a  singular  affair,  this  meeting  you  just  at 
this  time  and  place,"  said  the  doctor,  gaily,  after  the  usual 
salutations  had  been  exchanged.  "  I  am  almost  minded  to 
quote  a  homely  old  proverb  ;  for  I  have  not  travelled  forty 
rods  since  I  was  thinking  of  you,  and  really  wishing  that  I 
knew  where  you  might  be  found.  But  more  of  that  anon. 
How  has  the  world  used  you  since  I  parted  with  you,  Mr. 
Amsden  ?  " 

"  Mainly  well  —  quite  so,  indeed,  if  I  except  a  little  vex 
ation  of  to-day's  occurrence." 

"  And  what  has  crossed  your  path  to-day  of  an  unpleasant 
nature  ?  I  perceived  at  the  first  glance  that  your  counte 
nance  wore  a  look  of  dejection  that  did  not  formerly  belong 
to  it." 

"  O,  it  is  nothing  of  consequence,  sir." 

"  In  one  sense,  it  may  be.  I  have  long  since  observed,  sir, 
that  there  is  no  way  in  which  a  disturbed  mind  can  be  sooner 
restored  to  its  natural  equilibrium,  than  by  a  disclosure  of  its 
burden  to  others;  even  though  it  receive  no  sympathy  in 
return.  We  are  made  social  beings ;  and  the  law  of  our 
nature  cannot  be  contravened  with  impunity  here,  any  more 
than  in  more  important  matters.  The  cause  of  your  trouble 
is  none  of  my  business  to  be  sure  ;  but  a  communication  of 
it,  I  will  venture  to  say,  will  lighten  your  heart.  And  it  is 
best  to  enjoy  all  the  happiness  we  can  get,  you  know.  So 
let  us  have  your  story." 

Struck  with  the  kind  interest  which  the  other  seemed  to 
take  in  his  concerns,  Locke  proceeded  to  give  him  a  minute 
detail  of  all  the  circumstances  attending  his  application  for 
the  school  in  the  village  he  had  just  left,  his  examination, 
and  the  result  of  the  whole  affair. 

"  And  what  opinion  did  you  form  of  your  successful  rival  ?  " 
13 


146  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

asked  the  doctor,  after  indulging  in  a  hearty  laugh  at  some 
parts  of  the  story. 

"  Why,  that  he  was  a  pitiful  ignoramus,  to  be  sure." 
"  Undoubtedly ;  but  yet  a  fellow  of  considerable  tact,  and 
a  pretty  keen  insight  into  the  weaknesses  of  men,  and  the 
unworthy  passions  and  selfish  motives  that  too  often  govern 
them.  And  all  this  he  had  need  of,  to  succeed  upon  preten 
sions  so  ridiculous  ;  but  with  it,  you  see,  he  did  succeed,  and 
that  too,  at  fearful  odds  against  him.  With  what  low  cun 
ning  he  first  inquired  the  characters  of  the  committee  !  —  for 
such,  as  you  suppose,  was  probably  the  case.  And  then  how 
eagerly  he  seized  on  the  first  opportunity  to  bedaub  them 
with  flattery,  rightly  judging  that,,  in  this  instance,  the  words 
of  the  poet  would  hold  good, 

"  flattery  never  seems  absurd  — 

The  flattered  always  take  your  word." 

And  having  thus  secured  the  feelings  and  prejudices  of  the 
committee  for  himself,  he  appears  fairly  to  have  exemplified, 
with  them,  the  truth  of  another  line  of  the  same  writer,  by 
making 

"  Impossibilities  seem  just." 

Indeed,  sir,  I  think  the  fellow,  who  may  be  a  broken-down 
pedler,  or  possibly  a  discarded  subscription  agent  of  catch 
penny  books  or  periodicals,  managed  his  slender  stock  in 
trade  to  pretty  good  advantage.  I  see  but  one  blunder  that 
need  at  all  to  have  endangered  him  with  his  learned  exam 
iners,  —  that  was  his  mention  of  "  circumflutors"  meaning, 
probably,  to  have  hit  on  circumfcrentors,  of  which  he  might 
have  heard  from  some  students  or  surveyors  with  whom  he 
chanced  to  fall  in  company,  perhaps.  But  even  that  blunder, 
it  seems,  passed  unnoticed.  O,  yes,"  continued  the  doctor, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  147 

with  an  ironical  smile,  "  this  fellow  managed  his  part  to  ad 
miration.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  that  committee,  who, 
both  through  ignorance  and  will,  have  thus  betrayed  their 
trust  ?  And,  furthermore,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  people 
of  that  village,  who  so  blindly  conferred  that  important  trust 
on  such  men  ?  But  we  may  spare  words ;  for  the  employment 
of  this  imposter  will  fall  as  a  judgment  on  their  children,  in 
the  shape  of  errors  imbibed,  that  will  sufficiently  punish  these 
people  for  their  unpardonable  blindness  and  folly.  And  I 
will  here  tell  you,  Mr.  Amsden,  we  have  more  to  do  in  im 
proving  the  condition  of  our  common  schools  than  to  increase 
the  number  of  qualified  teachers.  We  have  got  to  appoint 
managing  committees  who  are  qualified  to  discover  and 
appreciate  them.  But  enough  of  this  ;  where  do  you  think 
of  looking  for  a  school  now,  my  dear  sir  ?  " 

"  I  know  not  where  to  look,  or  what  to  do,"  replied  Locke, 
despondingly.  "  I  am  poor,  and  need,  particularly  at  this 
time,  the  amount  of  what  would  be  respectable  wages.  But 
our  country  schools  afford  so  little  remuneration ;  and  as  for 
the  villages,  you  see  what  my  success  is  with  them." 

"  Do  n't  despair  quite  so  soon,  sir,"  said  Lincoln,  a  little 
roguishly  ;  "  you  may  find  some  men  in  other  villages  of  a 
little  larger  pattern  than  that  of  the  learned  trio  you  just 
encountered.  What  say  you  to  coming  to  Cartersville,  and 
taking  the  school  in  the  district  where  I  live  ?  " 

"  I  would,"  replied  Locke,  "  if  you  were  to  be  the  exam 
ining  committee." 

"  Well,  I  shall  be,"  rejoined  the  doctor,  "  for  all  the  exam 
ination  I  shall  want  of  you." 

"  How  am  I  to  take  you,  sir  ?  "  asked  the  former,  with  a 
doubtful  air. 

"  Why,  that,  as  it  strangely  happens,  I  am  sole  committee 
myself,"  answered  the  doctor. 

"  Indeed !  is  it  possible  ?  "  exclaimed  Locke,  unable  to  con- 


148  LOCKE    AMSDEX. 

ceal  the  pleasure  that  this  unexpected  announcement  occa 
sioned  him. 

"  It  happens,  for  once,  to  be  so,"  said  the  other.  "  About 
a  week  since,  being  at  home,  and  at  leisure,  I,  for  the  first 
time  for  years,  attended  our  annual  school-meeting,  and  was, 
partly  out  of  sport,  I  do  believe,  voted  in  sole  committee-man, 
nobody  believing  I  would  accept  the  office.  I,  however,  after 
giving  them  my  views  as  to  the  kind  of  teacher  we  needed, 
his  compensation,  &c.,  told  the  meeting  I  would  accept,  if 
they  would  allow  me  to  do  exactly  as  I  chose,  without  grum 
bling.  And,  they  finally  consenting,  I  took  upon  myself  the 
really  important  duties  of  that  post.  And  it  was  with  a  view 
of  faithfully  discharging  them,  that  I  was  just  thinking  of 
yon,  as  a  teacher  who  would  do  much  towards  raising  the 
low  condition  of  our  school.  You  shall  name  your  own 
wages,  if  within  any  reasonable  sum,  and  the  length  of  your 
engagement  for  any  period  short  of  six  months.  What  say 
you  to  all  this,  my  friend  ?  " 

It  is  needless  to  say  how  gladly  these  proposals  were  ac 
cepted  by  our  hero.  And,  having  settled  the  details  of  the 
bargain,  he  bade  adieu,  for  the  present,  to  his  kind  friend, 
and  with  a  countenance  as  grateful  and  sunny,  as,  one  half 
hour  before,  it  had  been  gloomy  and  dejected,  resumed  his 
journey  homewards,  to  spend  a  happy  week  with  his  family, 
before  entering  on  his  new  engagement. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

"  Not  long  the  house  so  raised,  so  prop'd,  can  stand ; 
For,  like  the  fool's,  't  is  built  upon  the  sand." 

PARNBL. 

THE  place  to  which  we  will  now  repair,  as  the  seat  of  the 
future  operations  of  our  schoolmaster,  was  a  thriving  interior 
village,  with  a  population  of  something  over  a  thousand. 
Its  name,  Cartersville,  was  derived  from  that  of  its  founder, 
a  Mr.  Carter,  an  enterprising  individual,  who,  some  forty  or 
fifty  years  before  the  period  of  our  story,  here  established 
himself,  erected  several  kinds  of  mills,  and  opened  a  store, 
which,  with  the  natural  advantages  of  the  location,  soon  drew 
around  them  the  buildings  and  shops  of  other  settlers,  till 
the  place  swelled,  at  length,  into  a  village  of  considerable  im 
portance,  with,  perhaps,  even  more  than  the  usual  comple 
ment  of  mechanics'  shops,  taverns,  stores,  churches,  and  fine 
dwelling  houses.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  the 
first  Carter,  whom  we  have  named  as  the  principal  founder 
of  this  village,  had  been  dead  many  years.  He  had  amassed, 
during  a  prosperous  and  active  life,  an  amount  of  property, 
which,  for  a  country  merchant,  was  considered  very  large. 
This  he  had  left  to  three  sons  and  a  daughter.  Two  of  the 
sons  became  spendthrifts,  soon  squandered  their  portions, 
and  left  the  country.  The  daughter,  who  was  now  dead, 
had  married  a  man  that  had  lost  her  portion  also,  and  gone 
abroad,  but  little  better  than  bankrupt.  The  remaining  son, 
who  alone  inherited  any  of  his  father's  talents  for  business, 
13* 


150  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

or  attempted  to  improve  on  the  property  left  him,  continued 
in  the  trade  to  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  that  of  mer 
chandise,  and  was  now  accounted  the  rich  man  of  the  place, 
being  extensively  engaged  in  business,  and  still  a  man  of 
industry  and  good  calculations  in  traffic,  though  otherwise  a 
person  of  rather  contracted  notions.  His  family,  however, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  three  daughters,  were  of  small  ad 
vantage  to  him,  either  in  improving  his  property,  or  in  ele 
vating  his  character,  —  at  least  not  to  any  correct  standard 
of  moral  action.  For  his  wife  was  a  woman  of  false  tastes, 
and  of  affectedly  fashionable  habits  ;  and  accordingly  she  had 
brought  up  her  daughters,  who,  as  might  be  expected  under 
such  maternal  guidance,  had  little  to  boast,  of  which  they 
had  reason  to  be  proud,  being  vain,  empty-headed,  wrong- 
hearted  girls,  fond  of  expensive  display,  priding  themselves 
upon  their  father's  wealth,  talking  much  about  family  dis 
tinction,  and  only  ambitious  to  be  looked  up  to  —  as  they 
unfortunately  were  by  the  young  society  of  the  place  —  as  a 
sort  of  inapproachable  standard  in  dress,  and  all  matters  per 
taining  to  what  they  deemed  stylish  life,  and  to  be  considered, 
as  they  considered  themselves,  the  very 

"  Glass  of  fashion  and  the  mould  of  form." 

This  family  belonged  to  the  school  district  in  which  Locke 
Amsden  was  now  engaged  as  a  teacher  for  the  ensuing  win 
ter  ;  but,  being  above  patronizing  a  common  school  for  the 
purposes  of  educating  their  children,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carter, 
or  rather  Mrs.  Carter,  in  conjunction  with  two  or  three  other 
wealthy  families  of  similar  views,  had  established  a  private 
school,  or  select  academy,  as  they  called  it,  which  was  de 
signed  to  afford  the  means  of  what  they  chose  to  term  a 
genteel  education,  leaving  the  district  schools  of  the  village 
to  be  attended  by  the  children  of  less  distinguished  families, 
and  all  those  who  had  tastes  for  nothing  better.  At  the  head 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  151 

of  this  establishment  was,  at  present,  a  fellow  whose  mind, 
manners,  qualifications,  and  general  character,  admirably- 
fitted  him  for  such  a  station.  He  wrote  himself  Manlius  O. 
W.  Tilden,  Professor  of  Elegant  Literature  ;  and  taught  crow- 
quill  penmanship,  drawing  sundry  problems  in  geometry, 
French,  fashionable  pronunciation,  and  the  whole  round  of 
what  he  designated  belles-lettres  accomplishments,  including 
music  upon  the  piano,  flagelet,  &c.,  if  required.  The  ten 
dency  of  this  school  had  been,  as  might  be  expected,  to  create 
envy,  as  little  as  there  was  reason  for  it,  towards  the  favored 
few  who  attended  it,  and  to  cause  the  common  schools  to  be 
neglected  and  looked  upon  with  contempt.  And  Dr.  Lincoln, 
who  was  a  man  of  science,  and  an  abominator  of  every  thing 
of  the  tinsel  order,  was  the  first  man  to  whom  it  occurred 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  importance  to  attempt  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  common  schools  of  the  place,  both  to  coun 
teract  the  influence  we  have  named,  which  he  considered  in 
all  respects  baneful,  and  to  make  those  schools  what  they 
should  be  for  public  benefit. 

Towards  night  on  the  day  previous  to  the  one  appointed 
for  entering  upon  his  engagement,  young  Amsden  arrived  in 
the  village  to  which  we  have  just  introduced  the  reader,  and 
immediately  repaired  to  the  residence  of  his  employer,  Dr. 
Lincoln. 

"  Your  arrival  just  now  is  most  opportune,  Mr.  Amsden," 
said  Lincoln,  shaking  the  other  heartily  by  the  hand  ;  "  for  I 
hope  to  have  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon  to  myself,  unin 
terrupted  by  professional  calls,  to  enable  me  to  spend  a  little 
time  with  you,  in  introducing  you  at  your  boarding  place 
(for  we  have  concluded  to  board  you  at  one  place),  visiting 
with  you  our  school-house,  and  in  apprising  you,  in  some 
measure,  of  the  difficulties  you  will  have  to  encounter,  if  you 
earn  your  money,  as  I  intend  you  shall.  But,  come,  sir, 


152  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

walk  into  the  house  first  —  you  will  stay  with  us  through  the 
night,  and  we  will  talk  over  these  matters  at  our  leisure." 

The  doctor  then  ushered  the  other  into  his  house,  and 
introduced  him  to  his  wife,  a  highly  intelligent  and  agreeable 
lady,  who,  with  her  husband,  — •  they  having  no  children,  — 
and  a  domestic  of  each  sex,  constituted  the  whole  family. 

After  a  pleasant  half-hour  spent  in  general  conversation, 
the  doctor  and  his  guest  set  forth  to  visit  the  school-house, 
as  the  former  had  proposed. 

"You  have  rather  a  large  proportion  of  fine  dwelling- 
houses  in  your  village,  have  you  not,  doctor  ?  "  said  Amsden, 
as  they  gained  the  street,  and  proceeded  on  their  way. 

"  It  may  be  so,"  replied  the  doctor.  "  Some  ambitious 
people,  in  times  past,  erected  several  expensive  buildings ; 
since  which  many  others,  having  imbibed  the  idea  that  social 
happiness  is  dependent  on  the  size  of  the  house  where  it  is 
to  be  enjoyed,  have  followed  the  example  ;  less  for  their  own. 
good,  in  some  instances,  I  believe,  than  the  good  appearance 
of  the  village." 

"  Quite  possible.  But  to  whom  belongs  that  large  house, 
up  yonder,  observed  Locke,  pointing  to  a  castle-like  building, 
standing  on  an  eminence,  a  little  aloof  from  all  others. 

"  O,  that  is  the  residence  of  the  Carter  family,"  answered 
the  other.  "  This  village  took  its  name  from  the  father  of 
the  owner  of  that  house.  The  old  gentleman  was  a  stirring 
man,  in  his  day,  and  died  very  wealthy.  And  his  son,  who 
built  that  fabric,  is  esteemed  by  some  to  be  now  equally 
rich ;  though  he  built,  as  some  shrewd  ones  w^ould  have  it, 
not  so  much  according  to  his  own  judgment,  as  on  his  wife's 
somewhat  different  scale  of  greatness." 

"  It  is  a  showy  thing,  indeed,"  rejoined  the  former  ;  "  but 
still  I  fancy  it  less  than  that  much  smaller,  but  more  truly 
elegant  house,  as  I  should  esteem  it,  standing  within  the  bor- 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER.  153 

ders  of  that  beautiful  farm,  lying  to  the  east  of  the  Carter 
establishment." 

"  Ah !  that  was  built  by  a  man  of  true  taste,  and  one  of  the 
finest  of  gentlemen,"  said  the  doctor,  warmly.  "  He  married 
the  daughter  of  the  elder  Carter,  and  received  that  farm  as  her 
dowry.  But  he  got  entangled  by  his  profligate  brothers-in- 
law,  and  lost  the  whole  establishment,  which  went  into  the 
hands  of  city  creditors,  while  the  unfortunate  debtor  was  left 
to  shift  for  himself,  and,  finally,  to  go  to  foreign  lands,  and 
there  die,  as  is  now  generally  supposed." 

By  this  time  they  reached  the  school-house,  which  was 
situated  in  a  noisy  business  corner,  about  ten  paces  from  the 
street,  with  a  blacksmith's  shop  on  one  side,  and  a  cooper's 
on  the  other. 

"  Here  is  your  palace,  my  lord  of  the  birchen  sceptre," 
said  Lincoln,  giving  the  other  a  good-natured  slap  on  the 
shoulder. 

"  Ay,  but  it  is  rather  near  the  street  here ;  is  it  not,  doc 
tor  ?  "  remarked  Amsden. 

"  True,"  replied  the  former,  ironically ;  "  but  do  n't  you 
perceive  the  wise  design  of  that  ?  It  is  to  inure  the  children 
to  the  danger  of  being  run  over,  and  horses  to  the  danger  of 
being  frightened,  to  the  peril  of  the  necks  and  limbs  of 
their  drivers." 

"You  succeed  so  well  in  reasons,"  observed  the  other, 
laughing,  "  that  I  will  hear  you  tell  why  the  house  is  made 
to  stand  between  two  such  noisy  shops." 

"  O,  the  idea,"  answered  Lincoln,  in  the  same  strain,  "  the 
idea  must  have  been  taken  from  the  classics ;  as  you  schol 
ars,  I  think,  should  at  once  perceive.  Demosthenes,  you 
know,  practised  oratory  amid  the  roar  and  racket  of  water 
falls.  And  who  knows  how  much  the  future  orators,  that 
shall  hav-e  been  educated  in  this  school,  will  be  indebted  for 


154  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

their  good  articulation  to  the  clinking  of  these  hammers,  of 
which  you  appear  so  disposed  to  complain  ?  " 

They  then  entered  the  house  for  an  inspection  of  the  inte 
rior,  whose  miserable  construction  and  arrangement  were  the 
same  as  are  still  a  greater  part,  perhaps,  of  common  school- 
houses  at  the  present  day. 

"  I  had  looked  to  see  things  different  here,"  remarked 
Locke,  glancing  round  the  room,  as  they  entered  it.  But 
you  have  the. same  construction  of  seats  as  is  seen  so  gener 
ally  elsewhere  —  close,  narrow,  and  all  of  an  equal  height ; 
so  that,  while  the  limbs  of  the  larger  pupils  are  cramped 
up,  and  otherwise  rendered  uncomfortable,  the  feet  of  the 
little  ones  are  left  dangling  in  the  air." 

"  Why,  the  object  of  that  plan  doubtless  is,"  said  the  doc 
tor,  "  to  train  the  legs  of  the  large  ones  to  occupy  a  modest 
space  in  this  world,  and  to  cause  those  of  the  little  ones  to 
become  so  benumbed  by  hanging  over  the  corners  of  the 
seats,  which  will  thus  impede  the  circulation  of  the  blood  in 
the  arteries  and  veins,  as  to  take  away  the  troublesome  desire 
of  the  restless  creatures  to  run  about,  and  go  out  of  doors. 
And  is  not  the  custom  sanctioned  by  that  old  and  refined 
nation,  the  Chinese,  who  cramp  the  feet,  &c.,  of  their  chil 
dren  ?  And  are  not  the  modern  corsets  of  the  intelligent  and 
fashionable  ladies  of  our  own  enlightened  land,  used  on  the 
same  principle  ?  " 

"  And  then  these  seats,"  resumed  the  former,  without  re 
plying  to  the  comments  of  the  other,  whose  ironical  meaning 
he  perfectly  understood  ;  "  these  seats,  as  usual,  rise  from  the 
front  here,  where  we  stand,  like  the  seats  of  an  old  amphithe 
atre  —  rise  one  above  another,  till  the  last  one,  yonder,  is 
nearly  half  way  up  to  the  ceiling ;  so  that  the  pupils  on  the 
upper  tiers  of  the  seats  will  be  uncomfortably  warm,  in  the 
heated  air  which  always  occupies  the  upper  portion  of  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  155 

room,  while  the  pupils  on  the  lower  seats  will  be,  at  the  same 
time,  perhaps,  as  uncomfortably  cold." 

"  Very  true,"  rejoined  Lincoln,  "  very  true  ;  but  then  the 
object  in  this,  also,  is  perfectly  plain  —  it  is  to  have  the  soft 
est  heads  in  the  school  placed  up  there  to  be  baked  over,  so 
that  they  may  be  on  a  par  with  the  others." 

"  Well,  I  wonder,"  remarked  Locke,  now  laughing  heartily 
at  the  satirical  hit  of  the  other,  "  I  wonder,  in  view  of  the 
other  conveniences  of  the  house,  how  the  matter  of  ventila 
tion  came  ever  here  to  be  thought  of,  as  it  appears  to  have 
been,  by  that  contrivance  for  lowering  the  upper  sashes  of 
the  windows  ?  " 

"  You  remember  the  lesson  you  formerly  received,  I  see," 
replied  the  doctor,  assuming  a  serious  air.  "  These  windows 
were  altered  to  admit  of  ventilation,  at  my  own  suggestion, 
some  years  ago.  An  opening  might  be  made  in  the  ceiling, 
as  was  done  in  your  school-house,  if  thought  necessary ;  but 
as  this  building  is  so  old,  and  full  of  crevices  for  the  admis 
sion  of  fresh  air,  perhaps  it  will  be  hardly  worth  the  while 
to  do  this." 

"  Perhaps  not,  in  this  old  house,"  said  Locke  ;  "  but  in  a 
new  one,  which  you  will  build  here  soon,  I  conclude,  you  will 
probably  have  this  attended  to,  as  well  as  several  other  im 
provements,  which  should  be  made  in  the  interior  of  most  of 
our  school  rooms ;  for  I  think  you  must  agree  with  me,  doc 
tor,  in  the  opinion  that  our  school-houses  are,  generally,  but 
illy  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  are,  or  should  be 
intended." 

"  I  certainly  do,  Mr.  Amsden,"  answered  the  other.  "And 
the  reason  I  treated  the  defects  you  have  here  pointed  out, 
in  the  manner  I  did,  was  because  I  thought  with  old  Horace, 

"  Kidiculum  acri 

Fortius  ac  melius,  plerumque  seeat  res,"  — 


156  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  that  ridicule  sometimes  is  more  sliarpl  j  effective  than  direct 
denunciation  ;  "  and  I  felt  like  seizing  on  the  sharpest  weapon 
I  could  find  for  cutting  up  the  faults  and  defects  in  question. 
Yes,  sir,  I  have  noticed  the  inattention  of  the  public  to  this 
subject  for  years  ;  and  I  have  the  more  wondered  at  it  when 
I  saw  that  improvements  were  going  on  in  all  other  kinds  of 
buildings.  The  people  now  are  getting  to  have  convenient 
and  healthy  houses  for  themselves.  They  also  build  very 
warm  and  well-contrived  stables  for  their  horses  and  other 
cattle.  They  have  even,  lately,  built  houses  for  their  hogs, 
on  new  plans,  which  are  well  adapted  to  their  purposes. 
But  the  houses  for  educating  their  children  in  —  they  are 
never  thought  of !  " 

"  Will  your  school  prove  a  troublesome  one  to  govern  ?  " 
asked  Amsden,  as  they  now  left  the  house  on  their  return. 

"  O  no,"  answered  the  other ;  "  at  least,  I  suspect  not. 
You  will  find  the  scholars  mischievous  and  noisy  enough,  no 
doubt,  but  not  disposed  to  dispute  your  authority,  I  think. 
The  difficulties  you  will  have  to  encounter,  before  making 
any  thing  of  your  school,  will  be  of  a  different,  and,  I  really 
fear,  of  a  worse  character  to  overcome.  You  will  find  the 
school  at  the  lowest  ebb,  flat,  dead  —  dead  to  all  ambition, 
all  inclination  to  study  and  learn.  We  have  gone  on  the 
cheap-teacher  system  till  our  school  has  completely  run  down. 
And  I  have  employed  you  to  elevate  it,  Mr.  Amsden." 

After  Lincoln  had  taken  Locke  to  the  quarters  he  had  en 
gaged  for  him,  and  introduced  him  there,  the  two  returned 
to  the  house  of  the  former,  where  they  found  waiting  for 
them  an  excellent  supper,  that  was  partaken  with  a  keen 
appetite,  and  enlivened  by  a  conversation  of  that  easy,  ele 
vated,  and  sparkling  character,  which  persons  of  intellect  and 
attainments  can  always  so  easily  get  up,  and  which  such  only 
know  how  to  appreciate  and  enjoy. 

"  If  you,  Mrs.  Lincoln,"  said  the  doctor,  rising  from  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  157 

table  and  looking  at  his  watch,  as  they  finished  their  repast, 
"  if  you  will  entertain  Mr.  Amsden  in  my  absence,  I  will 
now  go  out  for  an  hour  or  two." 

"  Certainly,"  replied  the  lady  ;  "  but  where  do  you  think 
of  going,  husband  ?  You  know  you  may  have  urgent  calls, 
when  it  will  be  necessary  that  you  be  found." 

"  True,"  answered  the  former.  "  Well,  I  have  my  poor 
patient  at  the  corner,  up  here,  to  visit ;  and  then  I  think  of 
calling  at  Carter's." 

"  Mr.  Carter's  family  are  not  sick,  are  they  ?  " 

"  No,  wife ;  but  I  am  going  to  make  an  effort  to  get  some 
of  those  girls  into  Mr.  Amsden's  school.  It  would  be  not 
only  for  their  own  good,  but  it  would  be  a  triumph  over  their 
Professor  of  Gimcracks,  which  I  should  enjoy." 

"  You  will  hardly  prevail  on  Mrs.  Carter  to  listen  to  any 
thing  of  that  kind,  I  fancy,  sir." 

"  As  respects  her  own  daughters,  possibly  not ;  but  recol 
lect  there  is  a  sprout  there  of  a  different  stock,  who  has 
sense  enough  to  see  the  difference  between  science  and  syl 
labubs." 

"  Ay ;  but  to  expect  her  to  take  such  a  course  in  despite 
the  ridicule  and  sneers  she  would  have  to  withstand  from  so 
many  there,  would  be  expecting  considerable  in  a  young  lady 
of  eighteen,  you  must  remember." 

"  In  an  ordinary  young  lady  it  might  be  so.  But  she  is  not 
an  ordinary  young  lady,  and  as  I  am  well  acquainted  with 
her"  — 

"  What  vanity,  now  ! " 

"  Vanity  or  no  vanity,  I  shall  talk  with  her  on  the  sub 
ject." 

"  And  in  vain." 

«  We  shall  see." 

The  lady  playfully  shook  her  head,  and  the  doctor  depart 
ed  on  his  destination.  But,  instead  of  following,  we  will 
14 


158  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

precede  the  latter,  a  few  moments,  in  his  proposed  visit,  and 
introduce  the  reader  to  the  family  which  had  been  the  sub 
ject  of  the  above  discussion. 

In  a  showily  furnished  apartment  in  the  large  house  which 
we  have  before  mentioned,  sat  a  starchy -looking  woman  of 
perhaps  forty,  surrounded  by  four  young  ladies  —  three 
of  them  her  daughters,  the  other  her  husband's  niece.  One 
of  the  daughters  was  thrumming  a  guitar.  The  other  two  sat 
nearly  facing  each  other,  at  the  opposite  ends  of  a  large  sofa, 
lazily  lolling  their  heads  and  shoulders  over  the  cushioned 
arms,  while  their  feet  met  and  intermingled  in  the  middle. 
One  was  reading,  with  an  occasional  sigh,  a  fashionable  Eng 
lish  novel ;  the  other,  a  volume  of  Byron's  poems.  By  the 
side  of  a  stand,  which  had  been  drawn  up  near  the  sofa  to 
furnish  light  to  the  two  readers,  sat  the  niece,  darning  stock 
ings.  The  daughters,  all  looking  much  alike,  were  of  deli 
cate  forms  and  quite  fair  complexions,  but  they  were  leaden- 
eyed  beauties ;  and  their  trained  countenances  were  sadly 
lacking  in  natural  expression.  The  niece  was  a  different 
looking  person.  Instead  of  the  dawdling  negligence  exhib 
ited  in  the  ill-fitting,  ill-matched,  and  gaudy  apparel  of  the 
others,  every  article  of  her  plain,  but  extremely  neat 
dress,  seemed  exactly  fitted,  both  by  its  color  and  fashion,  to 
grace  her  small,  compact,  and  elegantly  turned  figure.  It 
was  said  by  those  who  had  noted  her  face  at  church,  or  when 
she  sat  listless,  that  her  features  were  beautifully  regular,  and 
well  shapen ;  but  those  with  whom  she  had  ever  conversed, 
could  never  remember  how  that  was  ;  for  the  expression  of 
her  clear,  wholesome,  and  smile-lit  countenance  so  instantly 
caught  and  arrested  the  scanning  eye,  and  called  up  the 
heart  to  blind  it,  that  they  either  could  never  think  to  make 
the  examination,  or  sufficiently  succeed,  if  they  attempted  it, 
to  enable  them  afterwards  to  say  any  thing  decisive  of  the 
question.  Her  character,  also,  was  as  different  from  that  of 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  159 

her  cousins  just  named,  as  was  her  appearance.  Whenever 
she  appeared  abroad,  she  was  greeted  by  all  persons  most 
noted  for  understanding,  with  recognitions  of  the  most  mark 
ed  respect ;  and  the  eyes  of  the  poor  and  lowly,  as  they  fol 
lowed  her,  spoke  blessings.  But  still  she  did  not  dress  like 
her  cousins.  She  was  not  the  daughter  of  the  stylish  Mrs. 
and  the  rich  Mr.  Carter,  and  the  fashionable  world  said  but 
little  about  her. 

Presently  the  sharp  jingle  of  the  door-bell  announced  a 
visiter.  The  mother  pulled  up  her  high-starched  ruff  still 
higher.  The  daughter  at  the  guitar  stopped  short  in  her 
thrumming,  and  assumed  a  graceful  leaning  attitude  over  her 
instrument ;  while  the  other  two  daughters  suddenly  righted 
themselves  on  the  sofa,  and  fell  to  adjusting  their  deranged 
false  curls  with  most  commendable  diligence.  The  less  cum 
bered  niece,  who  had  none  of  these  important  duties  to  per 
form,  at  once  laid  down  her  work,  rose,  and  was  approaching 
the  door  with  the  view  of  ushering  in  the  new  comer,  when 
her  step  was  arrested  by  the  interposing  gesture  and  words 
of  Mrs.  Carter, — 

"  No,  no  !  let  the  servant  do  that — it 's  decidedly  the  most 
fashionable." 

The  other  then  quietly  returned  to  her  place,  and  fear 
lessly  resumed  her  ungenteel  employment. 

In  a  moment  the  inner  door  was  thrown  open  by  the  ser 
vant  girl,  and  Dr.  Lincoln  entered,  and  made  his  compliments 
to  the  ladies. 

"  Why,  you  have  made  quite  a  mistake,  doctor,"  said  Miss 
Ann  Lucretia,  the  elder  Miss  Carter,  with  a  pretty  simper, 
as  she  lightly  tapped  her  white  finger  on  a  string  of  her 
guitar ;  "  we  are  not  sick,  only  a  little  en  dishabille,  as  you 
perceive." 

"  Well,  I  felt  quite  endishable  myself,  an  hour  ago  ;  but  a 


160  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

chance  at  a  good  dish  of  wife's  toast  for  supper  has  over 
come  the  feeling,"  said  the  doctor,  with  apparent  honesty  of 
manner. 

"  Now  how  can  you  pretend  to  be  so  ignorant  of  elegant 
literature,  doctor  ?  "  exclaimed  Miss  Angeline  Louisa,  grace 
fully  flirting  her  novel  in  her  delicate  hands. 

"  Perhaps  the  doctor  do  n't  appreciate  us,  sister,"  lisped 
Miss  Matilda  Mandeville,  the  youngest  of  the  three,  a  girl 
of  about  fifteen  —  "  few  do,  you  know ;  at  least  Professor 
Tilden  says  so." 

"  O  !  indeed  I  do,"  replied  the  doctor,  with  a  bow  and  de 
precating  smile.  "  I  am  always  just  so  blundering.  But 
now  for  business  :  I  called  to  say  to  you,  Mrs.  Carter,"  he 
continued,  turning  to  that  lady  —  "  that  I  have  supplied  with 
a  good  teacher  our  district  school,  whicli  commences  to-mor 
row  "  — 

The  speaker  paused,  and  the  lady  stared  with  a  look  which 
seemed  plainly  to  say,  "  well,  I  wonder  what  I  have  to  do 
with  that  ?  "  —  "  and  I  did  not  know  but  you  would  feel  like 
patronizing  the  school  a  little,"  at  length  added  the  speaker. 

"  We  do  patronize  it  by  paying  half  the  taxes  that  sup 
port  it,  for  aught  I  know  ;  for  I  never  troubled  my  head  to 
inquire  about  the  district  school,  I  am  sure  —  not  but  what 
it  may  be  very  useful  for  the  lower  classes,"  replied  the  lady, 
with  great  dignity. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  other ;  "  and  I  have  sometimes  known 
good  families  turn  in  their  sons  and  daughters  with  good  ad 
vantage  to  them.  And  I  thought  it  possible  that  some  of  the 
young  ladies  here  might  be  disposed  to  attend,  for  the  sake 
of  looking  a  little  into  the  common  sciences." 

"  No,  I  thank  you,  doctor,"  replied  the  elder  sister,  with  an 
ineffable  toss  of  the  head,  "  we  are  quite  satisfied  with  our 
present  instructor,  whose  select  academy,  I  believe,  is  allow 
ed  to  be  very  distingue." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER  161 

"  La,  me  ! "  cried  Miss  Angeline  Louisa,  "  I  wonder  what 
Professor  Tilden  would  say  to  our  attending  a  district  school ! 
Come,  what  do  you  say  to  turning  in  with  the  ragged 
urchins  of  the  canaille,  Matilda  Mandeville  ? "  she  added, 
giggling  outright  at  the  thought. 

"  O,  dear  me !  how  could  one  be  so  very  vulgar  ? "  ex 
claimed  the  fair  sprig  of  gentility  to  whom  the  question  was 
put. 

"  And  what  does  Miss  Maverick  think  of  this  matter  ?  " 
said  the  doctor,  who,  finding  himself  repulsed,  as  he  had  been 
forewarned,  with  the  mother  and  daughters,  now  turned  con 
fidently  to  the  niece  before  described ;  "  what  does  Miss 
Maverick  think  ?  "  he  repeated  with  an  expression  which  he 
intended  and  believed  she  alone  would  rightly  interpret,  — 
"  perhaps  she  is  not  so  erudite  but  that  she  might  attend  our 
school  awhile,  with  some  benefit." 

The  young  lady  thus  addressed  lifted  her  clear  blue  eyes 
to  the  shrewd  interrogator,  and  turned  upon  him,  as  he  con 
cluded,  a  look  of  the  most  searching  scrutiny.  The  next  in 
stant,  however,  that  look  lost  all  its  severity,  and  melted  into 
a  sweet,  appreciating  smile,  that  told  that  she  had  read  a 
compliment  instead  of  disparagement,  in  the  doubly  signifi 
cant  words  of  the  speaker. 

"I  am  quite  conscious  of  my  deficiencies  in  the  solid 
sciences,  sir,"  she  replied  ;  "  and  I  confess  I  have  sometimes 
wished  for  an  opportunity  to  study  them  more.  If  you  have 
a  well-qualified  instructor,  I  have  but  little  doubt  that  it 
might  be  more  profitable  for  me  "  — 

"  Now  you  are  not  in  earnest,  surely,  are  you,  Mary  ? " 
interposed  Miss  Ann  Lucretia ;  "  why,  where  can  be  your 
taste  ?  What !  leave  our  Academy  of  Elegant  Literature, 
so  very  recherche,  for  a  common  district  school,  filled  up  with 
the  mere  rabble,  and  headed  by  a  country  rustic,  no  doubt, 
who  perhaps  never  trod  on  a  carpet  in  his  life  ?  " 
14* 


162  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  Why,  our  notions  vary  a  little  in  these  particulars,  you 
know,  cousin  Ann,"  modestly  replied  the  former.  "  But,  were 
they  alike,  I  know  not  but  I  ought  to  be  willing  to  attend  oui 
district  school,  for  the  purpose  of  lessening  the  burden  of 
expense  to  uncle  Carter,  who  has  so  kindly  paid  the  high 
tuition  which  your  instructor  asks,  that  I  might  have  the 
same  privilege  with  his  own  daughters. 

"  I  suppose  Mary  wishes  to  keep  in  our  circle  of  society  ?" 
significantly  remarked  the  old  lady. 

"  Why,  who  could  think  of  such  a  thing  as  going  to  a  dis 
trict  school  ? "  said  Miss  Angeline  Louisa ;  "  I  should  be 
ashamed  to  have  people  know  I  thought  of  the  thing." 

"  Indeed,  so  should  I,"  chimed  in  the  delicate  lisper,  Miss 
Matilda  Mandeville  ;  "  for  common  schoolmasters  are  nothing 
but  pedagogues,  and  they  are  the  ones,  you  know,  that  Pro 
fessor  Tilden  laughs  so  much  about." 

The  conversation  was  here  interrupted  by  another  peal 
of  the  bell ;  and,  in  a  moment  more,  the  notable  personage  to 
whom  the  young  ladies  had  so  often  alluded  in  the  foregoing 
discussion,  was  shown  into  the  apartment.  He  was  a  man 
something  under  thirty,  dressed  in  the  extremes  of  fashion, 
and  of  manners  which  he  evidently  considered  very  Ches- 
terfieldian.  He  bowed  with  an  attitude  on  entering ;  and, 
as  soon  as  he  had  disengaged  himself  from  the  three  besieg 
ing  sisters,  who  all  sprang  forward  to  meet  him  at  the  door, 
he  advanced  to  a  proffered  seat,  with  a  patronizing  nod  to 
the  doctor,  a  distant  "  how  d'ye  do  "  to  the  still  seated  Mary, 
and  a  superb  double  congee  to  Mrs.  Carter." 

In  the  black -bird  chit-chat  that  now  sprang  up  between 
the  sisters  and  their  elegant  professor,  Lincoln  found  oppor 
tunity  to  speak  with  Miss  Maverick  alone. 

"  Now  for  your  decision,  Miss  Maverick,"  he  said. 

"  On  the  subject  you  were  speaking  of  when  he  entered  ?  " 
she  asked ;  0, 1  have  come  to  no  decision,  sir." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  1  G3 

"  What  would  your  father  have  advised  in  such  a  case, 
Miss  Maverick  ?  "  persisted  the  former. 

"  You  are  quite  a  skilful  pleader,  doctor/'  replied  the  other, 
with  a  melancholy,  yet  arch  smile  ;  "  are  you  sure  you  did 
not  mistake  your  profession  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  doctor,  smiling  in  surprise  and  admiration  ; 
"  but  what  other  girl  would  have  taken  that  view  of  the  drift 
of  my  question  ?  If,  however,  you  think  I  am  appealing  to 
what  I  might  well  suppose  would  be,  with  you,  unanswerable 
authority,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  some  selfish  point  only, 
you  are  mistaken.  I  will  therefore  press  the  question." 

"  My  father,"  said  Mary,  "  as  perhaps  you  may  know,  sir, 
was  very  anxious  that  I  should  first  secure  the  solid  sciences, 
and  kept  me  at  those  schools  where  he  thought  I  could  study 
such  of  them  as  suited  my  age,  to  the  best  advantage.  He 
even  taught  me  in  them,  a  part  of  the  time,  himself." 

"  Then  I  have  your  opinion  in  this  matter  —  have  I  not  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  not ;  for,  as  unsuitable  as  I  have  felt  my  late 
course  of  study  to  be,  for  me  at  least,  I  have  seen  but  little 
chance  of  pursuing  any  other  with  the  hope  of  good  instruction 
in  your  school,  with  the  instructors  you  have  lately  had." 

"  There  is  something  in  your  observation,  doubtless,  Miss 
Maverick ;  but  we  shall  have  a  different  instructor  this 
winter." 

"  Do  you  know  him  personally,  that  you  can  answer  for 
his  qualifications  ?  " 

"  I  do.  He  is  a  scholar  and  a  gentleman.  Now  shall  I 
not  have  your  decision  ?  I  know  it  will  require  some  nerve 
to  stem  certain  currents.  But,  as  your  father's  friend,  let  me 
advise  you  to  do  it." 

"  I  know,"  rejoined  Mary,  with  a  moistened  eye,  and  other 
evidences  of  tender  emotion,  "  I  know  you  were  my  good 
father's  friend,  and  he  yours.  And  I  thank  you  kindly,  Dr. 
Lincoln,  for  the  interest  you  take  in  me.  But  I  cannot  now 


LOCKE    AHSDEN. 

answer  your  question.  I  must  first  consult  uncle  Carter. 
I  am  too  much  indebted  to  him  to  take  any  step  which  he 
might  disapprove,  whatever  my  own  opinion  should  happen 
to  be." 

The  doctor  now  took  his  leave  of  the  family,  and,  after 
seeking  out  Mr.  Carter  at  his  store,  and  saying  a  few  words 
to  him  in  private,  returned  to  his  own  happy  abode. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

"  There  in  his  noisy  mansion  skill'd  to  rule, 
The  village  master  taught  his  little  school." 

GOLDSMITH. 

ON  repairing  to  his  school-house,  the  next  morning,  for  the 
purpose  of  commencing  his  winter's  task,  Amsden  unexpect 
edly  found,  among  the  pupils  there  assembled,  and  awaiting 
his  coming,  one  whose  appearance  instantly  attracted  his  at 
tention,  and  awakened  in  his  bosom  a  lively  and  peculiar 
interest.  This  was  no  other  than  Mary  Maverick,  the  de 
pendent  orphan,  who,  on  Dr.  Lincoln's  warrant  of  having  a 
qualified  teacher,  had  nobly  braved  the  ridicule  of  her  fash 
ionable  cousins,  and  the  sneers  of  their  arrogant  professor, 
and  come  here  to  pursue  those  studies  and  receive  that 
instruction  which  her  own  excellent  judgment  told  her  would 
most  truly  accomplish  her,  not  only  for  the  duties,  but  for 
the  elegancies  of  life.  Often  did  the  former,  during  the 
forenoon,  while  engaged  in  ascertaining  the  intended  studies 
of  the  diiferent  portions  of  his  school,  and  arranging  his 
classes,  detect  his  attracted  vision  stealing  in  half-involun 
tary  glances  to  the  face  of  his  fair  pupil.  He  felt  a  vague 
though  deepening  impression  that  he  had  seen  that  remarka 
ble  countenance  before ;  but  it  was  rather  a  sensation  of  the 
heart  than  a  recollection  of  the  mind ;  for  where  or  when 
he  could  have  seen  her,  his  taxed  memory  refused  to  inform 
him.  And  every  effort  he  made  to  form  a  conclusion  on  the 
subject  but  added  to  his  perplexity.  Nor  did  the  object  of 
his  mental  inquiry  herself  seem  wholly  at  ease  in  her  posi- 


166  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

tion.  There  was  a  sort  of  tell-tale  consciousness  about  her 
looks  that  bespoke  either  an  actual  recognition,  or  a  dilemma 
no  less  pleasant  than  his  own.  Could  it  be  that  this  was  the 
sprightly  little  daughter  of  the  interesting  stranger,  whose 
call  at  his  father's,  in  former  years,  had  left  such  an  impres 
sion  on  his  mind,  and  given  such  a  turn  to  his  destinies  ?  He 
thought  it  not  probable ;  for  between  that  fairy  little  being, 
whose  image,  as  she  then  in  her  child-like  simplicity  appear 
ed,  had  ever  been  brightly  pictured  on  his  mind  —  and  the 
sweetly  dignified  young  lady  before  him,  his  thoughts  could 
find  no  resemblance  which  would  warrant  him  in  determining 
on  their  identity.  And  yet,  though  his  mind  dared  not  enter 
tain  the  pleasing  thought,  his  heart  continued  to  whisper,  that, 
however  great  the  transformation,  they  were  one  and  the 
same.  In  this  state  of  delicate  embarrassment,  he  suffered 
himself  to  remain  through  the  day.  He  might,  as  he  well 
knew,  have  easily  resolved  his  doubts,  by  conversing  with 
her,  and  making  some  allusions  to  former  circumstances. 
But,  absurd  as  it  may  appear,  the  very  solicitude  he  felt  on 
the  subject  prevented  him  from  doing  this,  or  even  going  so 
far,  in  this  respect,  as  his  duties  as  her  teacher  perhaps  re 
quired.  And  when  he  dismissed  his  school  at  night,  he  was 
not  only  ignorant  of  what  he  was  most  anxious  to  know  re 
specting  his  interesting  pupil,  but  he  had  not  even  ascertained 
her  name. 

After  taking  supper  at  his  boarding-house,  at  which  he  had 
now  taken  up  his  quarters,  our  hero  took  occasion,  with  what 
secret  motives  we  will  not  pretend  to  decide,  to  call  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Lincoln. 

"  Ah,  ha !  my  friend,"  exclaimed  the  doctor,  gaily,  as  the 
other  entered ;  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you  ;  for  I  wish  to  ask  you 
what  you  think  of  the  condition  of  your  numerous  family." 

"  Rather  low,  as  you  intimated  yesterday,  but  by  no  means 
hopeless,  I  trust,  doctor,"  replied  Amsden,  in  the  same  strain. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  167 

"  Well,  I  am  gratified  to  hear  you  say  even  so  much. 
But  did  my  phoenix  make  her  appearance  there  to-day  ?  " 

"  Who,  sir  ?  " 

"  O,  the  young  lady  at  Carter's  —  his  niece,  whom  you 
heard  me  mention  last  night  as  likely  to  attend." 

"  There  was  a  young  lady  at  school  to-day,  who  I  thought 
might  be  the  one  to  whom  you  alluded ;  but  I  did  not  learn 
her  name." 

"  Not  learn  her  name  ! " 

"  No ;  you  did  not  mention  it,  and  a  teacher  cannot  often 
ascertain  all  the  names  of  his  pupils  in  one  day.  But  who 
is  she  ?  " 

"  It  is  rather  curious  that  a  young  gentleman  should  let  a 
whole  day  pass,  under  such  circumstances,  without  ascertain 
ing  who  such  a  girl  as  Mary  Maverick  is,"  replied  the  doc 
tor  with  a  surprised  and  somewhat  incredulous  look ;  "  but  I 
will  tell  you.  She  is  the  only  child  of  Col.  Maverick,  the 
gentleman  who,  as  I  was  naming  to  you  yesterday,  married 
the  present  Mr.  Carter's  only  sister,  lost  his  wife,  failed,  and 
finally  went  to  South  America  by  my  advice,  to  repair  his 
shattered  health  and  fortunes  —  particularly  the  former ;  as 
I  thought  I  detected,  in  his  ill-health,  indications  of  an  ap 
proaching  consumption,  which  another  winter's  residence  in 
our  climate,  I  was  fearful,  would  develope.  It  was  ascertain 
ed  that  he  left  the  port  at  which  he  arrived,  for  the  interior 
of  Brazil,  since  which  he  has  never  been  heard  from.  He 
doubtless  there  fell  a  prey  to  disease,  or  perished  in  the  civil 
wars  by  which  that  country  was  then  distracted." 

"  How  many  years  ago  was  this  ?  "  asked  the  other,  with 
assumed  indifference, 

"  Six  years,  the  coming  May,  I  believe  —  yes,  it  was  in 
May  that  he  left  here.  He  had  been  the  superintendent  of 
a  factory,  in  a  village  about  an  hundred  miles  to  the  south  of 
this,  where  the  year  previous  he  had  resided,  having  taken 


168  LOCKE   AMSDEN,    OR 

his  daughter  with  him  to  attend  a  school  in  the  place.  He 
returned  with  her  early  in  the  spring,  and,  leaving  her  in  the 
care  of  her  uncle,  departed,  never  to  return." 

"  Where  she  has  ever  since  remained,  I  suppose  ? "  said 
Locke,  who,  though  now  satisfied  of  the  identity  he  had  been 
secretly  trying  to  establish,  was  yet  reluctant  to  let  the  sub 
ject  drop. 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure,"  replied  Lincoln,  throwing  an  inquiring 
look  at  the  other  ;  "  yes,  she  has  remained  in  that  family,  it 
is  true ;  but  she  has  not  been  spoiled  for  all  that,  —  if  such 
is  an  answer  to  what  I  take  to  be  the  drift  of  your  question. 
No,  the  father  was  a  man  of  high  qualities,  both  of  head  and 
heart ;  and  the  daughter  —  but  I  shall  leave  you  to  find  that 
out,  Amsden,  as  you  soon  will  —  unless,"  he  banteringly 
added,  "  unless  the  progress  you  have  made  in  her  acquaint 
ance  to-day  is  to  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  the  future." 

Amsden  now  was  quite  willing  to  let  the  subject  rest ;  and, 
after  some  further  conversation  on  indifferent  topics,  he  bade 
the  other  good  night,  and  departed. 

On  entering  his  school-room  the  next  morning,  a  little  be 
fore  the  usual  time  of  opening  his  school,  Amsden  was 
agreeably  surprised  to  find  the  fair  object  of  his  yesterday's 
solicitude  already  there,  engaged  upon  her  studies.  Feeling 
himself  now,  by  the  discoveries  he  had  made  last  evening, 
measurably  relieved  from  the  embarrassment  which  had  kept 
him  aloof  the  day  before,  he  no  longer  hesitated  to  approach 
her,  pay  his  respects,  and  make  inquiries  respecting  the 
studies  she  proposed  to  pursue.  His  advances  being  here 
met  with  unaffected  kindness  and  respectful  courtesy,  he  soon 
ventured  to  allude  to  the  circumstance  of  their  former  meet 
ing,  at  his  father's  ;  and  he  felt  not  a  little  gratified  and  flat 
tered  to  find  that  all  the  little  incidents  connected  with  that 
brief  visit  were  fresh  in  her  recollection.  She  had  even 
learned  his  subsequent  history,  almost  to  the  present  time, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  169 

from  a  mutual  acquaintance  of  both,  who  had  formerly  at 
tended  Seaver's  academy.  An  understanding  being  thus 
effected  between  them,  not  only  as  regarded  the  relations  of 
teacher  and  pupil,  but  in  the  more  delicate  ties  of  a  friend 
ship  based  on  reciprocal  respect,  and  the  kindly  remem 
brances  and  prepossessions  of  the  past,  it  were,  perhaps, 
almost  needless  to  say  how  happy  our  hero  became  in  his 
situation.  His  duties,  as  arduous  as  they  were,  seemed  light 
and  pleasant  in  the  bright  presence  in  which  they  were  con 
tinually  performed.  And  if  her  presence  alone  could  thus 
sweeten  his  labors  with  others,  how  delightful  the  task  of 
imparting  instruction  to  her,  —  to  her  whose  mind,  as  he  soon 
found,  was  fully  capable  of  appreciating  his  own,  and  whose 
proficiency  in  the  sciences  awakened  his  admiration !  And 
with  what  pleasure  did  he,  each  day,  look  forward  to  the 
peaceful,  intellectual  hour,  which,  after  the  dismissal  of  the 
main  part  of  his  scholars,  he  usually  devoted  to  her,  and  a 
few  others,  whom  her  noble  example  soon  brought  into  school ! 
To  him  this  duty  became  a  privilege,  and  a  privilege  which 
afforded  him  all  the  happiness  his  heart  desired. 

With  regard  to  the  general  character  and  condition  of  the 
school  of  which  he  had  taken  charge,  Amsden  found  matters 
much  as  his  employer  had  represented.  In  the  government 
of  his  school  —  so  far,  at  least,  as  respected  a  disposition  to 
acknowledge  and  obey  his  authority  generally  —  he  expe 
rienced,  it  is  true,  no  difficulty  with  his  pupils.  For  it  hav 
ing  not  been  any  part  of  their  ambition  to  bully  their  masters, 
and  having  been  accustomed  to  the  discipline  of  those  whose 
chief  object  seemed  to  have  been  to  govern  rather  than  to 
instruct,  they  appeared  to  expect,  with  all  their  trifling  and 
restlessness,  that  order  would  be  enforced,  and  they  must 
yield  to  its  requisitions.  But  with  this  negative  virtue  ended 
all  that  was  promising  or  commendable  in  the  appearance  of 
the  school.  The  scholars,  though  they  had  been  kept  at 
15 


170  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

school,  perhaps  two  thirds  of  the  time,  for  years,  were  yet 
extremely  deficient  —  in  any  correct  knowledge,  at  least  — 
of  the  most  common  rudiments  of  learning.  They  had, 
many  of  them,  gone  over  much  ground,  indeed  ;  but  they  had 
acquired  but  little  correctly,  and  less  understandingly.  And 
it  was  still  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  they  were  restrained 
from  running  over  whole  pages  for  a  lesson,  when  perhaps 
as  many  sentences  would  be  more  than  they  would  have 
thoroughly  mastered.  Besides  this,  the  common  vice  of  our 
schools,  especially  village  schools,  the  scholars  seemed  to 
have  little  or  no  relish  for  their  studies,  and  as  little  ambition 
to  excel  in  them. 

Although  this  unpromising  condition  of  the  school  was,  as 
before  intimated,  directly  attributable  to  the  mismanagement 
of  unqualified  or  unfaithful  teachers,  there  was  yet  another 
circumstance,  which  had  not  only,  in  a  great  measure,  proba 
bly,  remotely  caused  the  whole  evil,  by  leading  to  the  em 
ploying  of  such  teachers  in  the  first  place,  but  which  con 
tinued  to  operate  with  the  most  unfavorable  effect  on  the 
advancement  of  the  pupils.  This  was  the  total  neglect  with 
which  the  whole  subject  was  treated  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  district,  who,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  rarely  troubled 
their  heads  even  to  inquire  about  the  school,  much  less  to 
visit  it. 

With  all  these  obstacles  before  him,  it  was  some  time  be 
fore  Amsden,  with  all  his  tact  and  perseverance,  could  succeed 
in  confining  his  pupils  to  methods  of  study  which  promised 
any  real  improvement.  And  if  he  succeeded  in  doing  that, 
he  found  it  no  less  difficult  to  excite  in  them  an  interest  in 
their  studies  sufficient  to  insure  an  application  productive  of 
any  important  results. 

At  ^length,  however,  by  extraordinary  exertions,  he  so  far 
overcame  the  difficulties  with  which  he  had  to  contend,  as 
to  command  the  attention  of  his  pupils,  and  to  raise,  in 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  171 

most  of  them,  some  little  ambition  to  press  forward  in  the 
path  of  improvement.  But,  aware  that  much  remained  to 
be  done,  and  being  sensible  at  the  same  time  that  but  few 
scholars  will  long  persevere  in  attempts  which  the  exertions 
of  a  teacher,  only,  have  induced  them  to  make,  unless  they 
expect  their  labors  will  be  rewarded  by  the  encouragement 
and  approbation  of  those  to  whom  they  are  in  the  habit  of 
looking  for  every  thing  else  in  life,  his  next  step  was  to  enlist 
the  interest  of  the  parents  in  his  school,  and  thus  secure 
their  cooperation  in  bringing  about  the  desired  object.  With 
this  end  in  view,  he  at  first  made  an  effort  to  induce  the 
parents  and  guardians  of  the  district  to  make  individual  visits 
to  his  school.  But,  meeting  with  no  other  success  in  this 
attempt  than  what  consisted  of  promises,  reluctantly  given 
and  invariably  broken,  he  next  determined  to  appoint  a  par 
ticular  day  for  the  reception  of  visiters,  and  to  prepare  his 
scholars  for  going  through  such  interesting  exercises  on  the 
occasion,  as  should  furnish  an  additional  inducement  for  the 
invited,  at  least,  to  attend.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  he 
fixed  on  a  future  day  for  what  he  concluded  to  call  a  public 
examination  of  his  school.  And,  having  caused  information 
of  the  appointment  to  be  spread  through  the  neighborhood, 
he  began  to  make  arrangements  for  the  purpose  among  his 
pupils,  and  to  exhort  them  to  the  use  of  such  diligence  in 
their  studies  as  should  enable  them  to  acquit  themselves 
creditably  before  the  expected  assemblage.  Incited  afresh 
by  the  thought  of  displaying  their  acquisitions  before  their 
parents  and  others,  or  fearful  of  exposing  their  deficiences, 
the  scholars,  with  almost  one  accord,  betook  themselves 
eagerly  to  their  respective  studies.  And,  in  the  two  weeks 
that  intervened  before  the  day  of  the  proposed  examination, 
they  had  made  such  progress  that  their  teacher  began  really 
to  feel  very  proud  of  his  school. 

As  the  appointed  day  drew  near,  Amsden,  to  make  doubly 


172  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

sure  of  a  general  attendance,  was  at  the  pains  of  calling  on 
most  of  the  parents  and  guardians  of  his  pupils,  to  remind 
them  of  the  time  when  the  contemplated  performances  were 
to  take  place,  and  to  urge  them  to  be  present.  And  so  well 
did  he  prosper  in  obtaining  individual  promises  of  attendance, 
that  he  supposed  there  could  be,  this  time,  scarcely  a  possi 
bility  of  a  failure.  His  scholars,  in  the  mean  time,  were  full 
of  ambition.  He  seemed  to  have  succeeded,  at  last,  in 
infusing  into  them  a  portion  of  his  own  spirit  and  enthusiasm 
for  learning.  Every  thing  went  swimmingly  on  ;  and  he 
felt  himself  justified  in  looking  forward  with  certainty  to  the 
brightest  results  from  the  operation  of  his  plan.  But,  alas ! 
alas  for  the  blindness  and  guilty  neglect  of  the  public,  on  a 
point  so  important  to  interests  which  we  should  hold,  above 
all  things,  dear  !  We  will  not,  however,  anticipate. 

The  eventful  day  at  length  arrived ;  and  our  hero,  having 
risen  and  breakfasted,  left  his  lodgings  for  the  scene  of  his 
daily  labors,  that  morning,  in  high  spirits.  Every  thing,  thus 
far,  seemed  auspicious  to  his  undertaking.  On  his  way  to 
his  school-house,  however,  his  attention  was  attracted  by 
numerous  hand-bills,  posted  on  the  doors,  corners,  and  all 
other  conspicuous  places  in  the  streets,  announcing  in  staring 
capitals,  for  that  evening,  the  wonderful  exhibitions  of  the 
far-famed  Potter,  a  professed  juggler  of  those  times,  who 
proposed,  in  the  present  instance,  as  usual,  to  display  the  as 
tonishing  feats  of  swallowing  swords  and  jack-knives,  hatch 
ing  chickens,  frying  eggs  in  his  hat,  together  with  an  endless 
variety  of  other  feats  never  before  exhibited,  but  all  equally 
miraculous.  Performances  to  commence,  in  order  to  do  full 
justice  to  the  public,  at  the  early  hour  of  three  o'clock,  P.  M. 

As  Amsden's  examination  was  to  begin  only  an  hour  before 
the  time  fixed  on  for  opening  these  shows,  and  be  resumed  in 
the  evening,  for  which  the  most  interesting  exercises,  such  as 
the  reading  of  original  compositions,  declamations,  and  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  173 

speaking  of  a  few  select  dialogues,  were  reserved,  —  it  barely 
occurred  to  him  that  the  coincidence  might  possibly  be 
perhaps  a  little  unlucky,  as  a  very  few  unthinking  persons, 
who  otherwise  might  come  to  swell  his  audience,  would,  likely 
enough,  be  led  away  to  witness  the  trumpery  tricks  of  the 
juggler.  But,  supposing  that  no  people  of  sense  and  char 
acter  would  do  this,  and  especially  that  no  parents  would 
think  of  putting  such  pitiful  shows  in  competition  with  the 
praiseworthy  performances  of  their  own  children,  when  con 
nected  with  a  subject  of  such  vital  interest  to  them,  he  felt 
no  uneasiness  from  the  circumstance.  And,  very  philosoph 
ically  consoling  himself  with  the  thought  that  the  presence 
of  the  few  who  would  thus  desert  him  would  be  no  object, 
and  that,  after  all,  the  poor  mountebank,  who  would  doubt 
less  be  the  greatest  loser  in  the  rivalry  for  spectators,  would 
have  the  most  reason  to  complain,  he  dismissed  the  subject 
from  his  mind,  and  passed  on  unconcernedly  to  his  school- 
house.  But,  on  opening  his  school,  some  doubts  of  a  dif 
ferent  character  soon  began  to  rise  in  his  mind.  Though 
he  had  no  fears  that  the  attendance  of  his  audience  would 
be  materially  endangered  by  the  presence  of  these  shows, 
yet  he  knew  not  but  the  excitement  they  would  occasion 
among  the  boys  of  the  village  might  distract  the  minds  of 
his  pupils,  and  cause  them  to  acquit  themselves  less  hon 
orably  than  they  would  otherwise.  For  he  was  not  long  in 
discovering  in  them  an  unusual  lack  of  interest  respecting 
the  performances  in  which  they  were  in  the  afternoon  to  en 
gage.  A  portion  of  them  appeared  too  much  excited  to  con 
fine  their  minds  to  their  tasks ;  others  appeared  absent,  and 
yet  others  seemed  wholly  indifferent  about  preparing  them 
selves  for  their  allotted  parts.  Some  other  object  of  interest, 
in  short,  was  obviously  getting  uppermost  in  their  minds. 
And  so  great,  indeed,  was  their  listlessness,  that  their  instruc 
tor  at  length  began  to  entertain  serious  apprehensions  that 
15* 


174  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

many  of  them,  even  those  who  had  all  along  given  the  most 
evidence  of  improvement,  would  appear  to  great  disadvan 
tage  in  the  approaching  exercises.  Nor  did  these  unfavora 
ble  appearances  at  all  improve  as  the  morning  wore  away. 
At  the  recess  of  the  boys,  parts  of  exclamatory  sentences, 
such  as  "  real  live  chickens  !  "  —  "great  sharp  swords,  handle 
and  all!"  frequently  reached  Amsden's  ear  from  excited 
groups  that  were  eagerly  discussing  the  subject  near  the 
door  ;  and  on  passing  round  among  the  seats  just  vacated,  he 
saw  the  word  Potter  written  on  this  slate,  Potter  on  that  copy 
book,  and  Potter,  with  his  hat  full  of  chickens,  pictured  out 
on  the  wall. 

On  returning  to  his  school,  after  the  usual  intermission  at 
noon,  he  found  matters  even  worse  than  he  had  left  them. 
The  first  boy  he  called  up  to  read,  after  being  shown  his 
place,  which  he  had  forgotten,  commenced,  "  B-a  —  yes,  a  — 
k-e-r,"  and  stopped  short. 

"  And  what  does  that  spell  ?  "  said  his  master,  giving  him 
an  impatient  jog,  to  recall  his  wandering  ideas  to  the  subject, 
"  what  does  that  spell,  sir  ?  " 

"  Potter ! " 

"What?" 

"  Potter  —  baker,  I  mean,  but  I  was  thinking  "  — 

And  so  it  was  with  most  of  them :  their  eyes  might  be 
upon  their  books,  but  their  heads  were  full  of  Potter  and  his 
kickshaws. 

All  this  looked  rather  ominous,  to  be  sure ;  and  Locke 
began  to  tremble  for  the  credit  of  his  pupils  :  but,  believing 
they  would  be  brought  to  their  senses  by  the  presence  of  the 
company,  now  shortly  to  assemble,  he  restrained  his  anxie 
ties,  and  awaited,  as  patiently  as  he  could,  the  hour  set  for 
commencing  the  exercises,  and  the  arrival  of  the  spectators. 

Two  o'clock  at  length  came,  but  with  it  no  company.  At 
half-past  two  it  was  still  the  same  ;  and  the  anxious  teacher, 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER.  175 

now  becoming  really  alarmed  on  a  point  on  which  before  he 
had  not  suffered  himself  to  entertain  a  single  doubt,  began 
to  glance  uneasily  through  the  windows,  and  keep  an  eager 
ear  listening  for  the  approach  of  footsteps  at  the  door.  But 
he  looked  and  listened  in  vain.  Another  hour  came  and 
passed,  and  yet  not  a  single  individual  of  all  the  expected 
audience  made  his  appearance  ! 

By  this  time,  most  of  the  scholars  began  to  be  restless, 
and  show  sundry  other  symptoms  of  impatience.  The  hour 
for  opening  the  shows  had  come  and  gone.  They  were  evi 
dently  thinking  of  this,  and  as  evidently  longing  to  be  gone 
themselves.  Locke,  at  the  time  previously  set  for  the  pur 
pose,  had  commenced  his  examination,  and  thus  far  continued 
on  with  it,  in  the  most  unimportant  parts  of  the  exercises ; 
but  the  business  dragged  every  moment  more  and  more 
heavily,  and  it  now  became  obvious  that  the  school  could 
not  much  longer  be  kept  together.  First,  one  would  ask  to 
be  dismissed ;  then,  another ;  then,  a  third  and  fourth.  And 
if  refused,  or  put  off,  they  would  not  sit  five  minutes  without 
repeating  their  request ;  alleging,  in  many  instances,  that  they 
had  leave  of  their  parents  for  so  doing.  Finding  he  might  as 
well  argue  to  the  winds,  as  to  a  school  in  such  a  state  —  see 
ing,  indeed,  that  it  was  wholly  useless  to  attempt  to  proceed 
with  the  exercises,  and  having  now  no  hope  of  any  company, 
if  he  should,  he  reluctantly  concluded  to  yield  to  the  necessity 
of  the  case ;  and,  calling  up  his  scholars,  he  dismissed  them 
till  the  next  morning,  without  saying  a  word  in  comment. 
And  no  sooner  was  the  welcome  word  pronounced,  than  the 
whole  tribe,  bursting  out  into  an  exulting  ivhorah !  hastily 
seized  their  caps,  hats,  &c.,  and  rushed  into  the  street,  on 
their  way  for  Potter's,  where  their  more  childish  parents  had 
gone  before  them  —  leaving  their  unregarded  teacher  to  re 
turn  home,  more  vexed,  more  chagrined,  and  more  truly  dis 
couraged,  than  he  had  ever  felt  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life. 


176  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

The  next  morning,  on  his  way  to  his  school,  Locke  encoun 
tered  his  friend  and  employer,  Dr.  Lincoln,  and  related  to 
him  the  mortifying  occurrences  of  the  day  previous. 

"  Your  story,  Mr.  Amsden,"  said  the  doctor,  "  involves  a 
satire  upon  us,  which  should  well  make  us  blush.  Sensible 
of  the  importance  of  your  most  praiseworthy  attempt,  I  was 
not  only  intending  to  go  myself,  but  rally  others ;  and  an  un 
expected  summons  to  a  distant  patient  only  prevented  me  from 
so  doing.  But,  as  provoking  and  truly  discouraging  as  this 
affair  must  have  been  to  you,  do  not  allow  yourself  to  despair." 

"  I  shall  not,  of  bettering  my  school  in  some  measure  ;  but 
what  hope  can  I  have  of  making  it  what  it  should  be,  while 
parents  so  plainly  tell  their  children  that  they  hold  their  im 
provement  in  science  of  less  importance  than  the  tricks  of  a 
juggler  ?  Did  they  not  so  tell  them  yesterday  ?  For,  as 
somebody  most  truly  says, 

"  Words  speak  in  a  whisper,  actions  through  a  trumpet." 

*  True,  true  to  the  letter ;  and  the  sarcasm  is  richly  de 
served,  though  those  to  whom  it  applies  are  less  conscious  of 
their  fault,  I  presume,  than  you  imagine.  Are  you  not  ex 
pecting  too  much  from  poor  human  nature,  especially  here, 
where  so  many  circumstances  have  long  combined  to  blind 
people  to  the  importance  of  popular  education,  and  the  best 
methods  of  promoting  it  ?  Men  are  generally  more  inclined 
to  go  where  Folly  leads  than  where  Wisdom  points.  And 
here  they  have  so  long  trod  in  the  path  of  the  former,  that 
their  blindness,  on  the  point  in  question,  has  become  chronic, 
and  cannot  be  cured  in  a  day.  Your  exertions  will  not  have 
been  lost  on  your  school.  Something  has  been  gained  in  ac 
quirement,  something  towards  fixing  good  habits  of  study  — • 
all  help.  You  must  still  persevere  ;  and  though  it  may  not 
be  expedient  to  renew  your  yesterday's  attempt  at  present, 
you  yet  shall  have  my  aid  in  trying  to  get  parents  and  pupils 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  177 

mutually  interested,  as  well  by  my  occasional  visits,  as  by  my 
influence  to  procure  the  visits  and  enlist  the  interest  of  oth 
ers.  Yes,  persevere ;  and,  while  you  do  so,  remember  that 
our  village  is  not  the  only  one  guilty  of  the  same  faults. 
Our  country  schools  are  before  those  of  our  villages,  in  re 
gard  to  the  interest  taken  in  them  by  both  parents  and  chil 
dren.  In  our  country  schools,  a  good  degree  of  interest  in 
learning  is  felt,  and  the  pupils  do  learn ;  though,  through  the 
incompetency  of  their  teachers,  they  too  often  learn  error. 
But  our  village  pupils  do  not  even  learn  that.  How  impor 
tant,  then,  that  our  schools,  both  in  town  and  country,  be,  for 
different  reasons,  wholly  revolutionized  ?  And  you,  sir,  are 
the  man  to  begin  the  revolution." 

"  But  what  can  I  do  towards  such  a  work,  supported  as  I 
am,  and  shall  be,  by  the  public,  in  the  undertaking  ?  " 

"  A  good  deal.  While  your  persevering  labors  will  event 
ually  reform  one  school,  you  will  be  setting  an  example  that 
will  be  surely,  if  slowly,  operating  upon  others.  And  while 
doing  this,  you  may  enjoy  the  proud  consciousness  that  you 
are  doing  more  to  perpetuate  the  liberties  of  your  country, 
than  the  arrogating  congress-man,  who  is  spouting  wind  to 
the  tune  of  eight  dollars  per  day." 

The  judicious  and  spirited  remarks  of  Lincoln  were  not 
without  their  effect  on  the  kindred  mind  of  young  Amsden. 
He  had  long  entertained  similar  views  himself,  and  had  laid 
out  his  course  with  reference  to  them.  But  he  was  by  no 
means  prepared  for  the  obstacles  and  discouragements  by 
which  he  found  his  path  beset ;  and  he  was  beginning  to  look 
on  the  prospect  before  him  with  a  cold  and  doubtful  eye. 
The  wise  and  timely  counsels  of  his  employer,  however,  en 
couraged  and  reassured  him,  and  he  again  returned  with 
patient  determination  to  his  task.  He  now  found,  indeed, 
that  patience  and  determination  were  alike  needed  by  him, 
while  trying  to  revive,  in  his  pupils,  the  interest  and  ambition 


178  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

which  he  had  succeeded  in  raising  in  them,  previous  to  the 
failure  of  the  little  plan  we  have  described.  For,  although 
the  juggler  and  his  shows,  now  they  had  seen  them,  had  lost 
their  charms,  yet  the  course  taken  by  their  parents  seemed 
to  have  removed  all  inducement  to  any  future  exertion.  In 
stead  of  the  pride  which  they  had  been  told  by  their  instruc 
tor  those  parents  would  feel,  on  seeing  them  acquit  themselves 
well  —  instead  of  the  praises  they  would  get,  they  had  seen 
their  exertions  pass  unrewarded  by  either  the  praise  or  the 
presence  of  a  single  individual.  And  they  were  not  slow  in 
drawing  the  disheartening  inference.  For  all  this,  the  untir 
ing  efforts  of  our  schoolmaster,  directly  applied,  and  the  many 
pleasant  little  devices  and  amusing  exercises  that  he  con 
trived  to  get  up,  illustrative  of  the  different  branches  he  was 
teaching,  and  at  the  same  time  instructive  in  themselves,  at 
length  began  to  produce  their  effects  in  awakening  some  de 
gree  of  the  spirit  desired.  Dr.  Lincoln  and  his  lady  several 
times  visited  the  school,  and  their  example  was  soon  followed 
by  some  others,  who  seemed  to  think,  that,  under  the  sanction 
of  so  respectable  a  precedent,  it  would  now  possibly  do  to  be 
seen  in  a  common  school.  These  visits  much  contributed 
also  to  encourage  the  instructor,  and  give  efficiency  to  his 
exertions.  And  he  finally  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  his 
school,  if  not  all  that  he  could  have  wished  it,  at  least  in  a 
highly  prosperous  condition. 

But  although  Amsden  had  at  last  found  himself  in  a  fair 
way  of  surmounting  the  obstacles  that  had  here  impeded  his 
success  as  a  teacher  merely,  yet  there  were,  in  the  mean 
time,  other  trials  attending  his  situation,  which  he  was  left  to 
experience,  and  which  he  felt  none  the  less  keenly,  for  being 
compelled  to  endure  them  in  silence.  If  the  neglect  and 
lack  of  interest  which  the  inhabitants  had  exhibited  towards 
his  school  had  caused  him  so  much  chagrin  and  disappoint 
ment,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  a  still  greater  neglect  of 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  179 

himself,  in  all  those  little  courtesies  and  marks  of  respect 
which  are  usually  extended  to  all  respectable  members  of 
society,  would  not  long  escape  his  notice,  or  fail  to  make  him 
feel  unpleasantly. 

There  had  been  in  the  village,  during  the  winter,  a  con 
tinued  round  of  fashionable  parties,  some  for  the  lively  dance, 
but  most  of  them  for  social  converse,  the  occasional  song,  and 
such  other  light  diversions  as  are  usually  introduced  on  these 
occasions.  To  these  parties,  all,  of  any  thing  like  fair  stand 
ing,  had,  in  turn,  been  invited.  Spruce  mechanics  and  their 
journeymen  frequently  received  their  invitations  ;  the  pert 
merchant's  clerk  was  sure  to  be  remembered  ;  even  Locke's 
older  pupils  were  not  neglected,  and  sometimes,  indeed,  they 
were  sought  out  and  invited  before  his  face.  But  nobody 
remembered  the  poor  schoolmaster.  Nobody  seemed  to  be 
aware  that  he  was  born  with  social  feelings,  or  that  he  had 
any  sort  of  claim  to  mingle  in  society,  like  other  people  ;  and, 
throughout  the  whole,  he  was  never  complimented  with  a 
single  invitation. 

At  first  he  did  not  pay  any  attention  to  this  circumstance ; 
or,  if  he  did,  he  concluded  it  arose  from  some  excusable  inad 
vertence.  But,  being  generally  apprised  of  these  assem 
blages,  the  next  day  after  their  occurrence,  when  he  was 
often  asked  why  he  had  not  attended,  the  constant  repetition 
of  the  neglect  at  length  forced  itself  upon  his  observation, 
and  caused  him  more  pain  than  he  would  have  been  willing 
to  confess.  Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  un 
pleasant  feelings  he  thus  experienced  arose  from  the  disap 
pointment  of  any  particular  wish  he  had  to  mingle  in  fash 
ionable  society.  For,  believing  with  his  favorite  poet,  that 

"  e'en  while  Fashion's  brightest  arts  decoy, 

The  heart,  distrusting,  asks  if  this  be  joy," 

he  felt  conscious  that  he  should  have  little  relish  for  its  friv- 


180  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

olities  and  amusements.  No,  it  was  not  this  that  disquieted 
him;  but  it  was  the  inference,  the  unavoidable  inference, 
which  he  drew  from  the  circumstance,  that  caused  the  pang ; 
awakening  reflections  as  wounding  to  his  sensibilities,  as  they 
were  discouraging  to  his  prospects,  in  the  path  of  life  he  had 
marked  out  for  himself.  And  what  was  this  inference  ? 
Did  it  grow  out  of  the  narrow  jealousy  that  there  was  any 
thing  relating  to  his  manners,  his  person,  or  his  poverty,  that 
had  shut  him  out  of  society  ?  By  no  means  ;  for  his  dress 
was  good,  his  person  what  few  could  boast  of,  and  his  man 
ners —  he  had  no  manners,  he  never  tried  to  form  any, 
but  was  wisely  content  with  the  unsophisticated  demeanor 
of  his  childhood,  which  let  his  native  benevolence,  his  kind 
and  cheerful  disposition,  his  strong  sense  and  ready  percep 
tion,  shine  out  undisguised  and  clearly,  and  find  their  way, 
as  they  did,  to  every  heart  not  foolishly  shut  by  the  conven 
tional  restrictions  of  modern  society  ;  while  they  imparted  to 
his  appearance  an  ease  and  dignity  that  fitted  him  for  every 
company.  No,  it  was  nothing  of  that  kind.  It  was  the  low 
estimation  in  which,  he  could  not  but  perceive,  the  occupation 
of  the  common  teacher  was  held  by  the  public ;  an  estima 
tion,  which,  besides  depriving  that  teacher  of  half  the  very 
influence  he  is  expected  to  exercise  over  the  minds  of  the 
young,  virtually  ostracises  him  from  society,  and  leads  even 
parents  to  place  him  whom  they  intrust  to  form  the  minds 
and  characters  of  their  own  children  for  life  —  to  place  him, 
unconsciously,  we  hope  —  upon  a  level  with  the  servants  of 
their  kitchens  and  the  grooms  of  their  stables ! 

Such  were  the  difficulties,  such  the  trials,  which  our  school 
master  was  doomed  to  experience.  But  is  the  example, 
which  his  case  exhibits,  a  solitary  one  ?  Let  the  public 
answer ;  and,  if  in  the  negative,  let  them  reflect  on  the  conse 
quences  of  suffering  this  state  of  things  to  remain  for  ever. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  181 

How  well  and  justly  was  all  this  appreciated  by  the  good  and 
charming  Cowper:  — 

"  Respect,  as  is  but  rational  and  just, 
A  man  deemed  worthy  of  so  dear  a  trust. 
Despised  by  thee,  what  more  can  he  expect 
From  youthful  folly  than  the  same  neglect  ? 
A  flat  and  fatal  negative  obtains 
That  instant  upon  all  his  future  pains  : 
His  lessons  tire,  his  mild  rebukes  offend, 
And  all  the  instructions  of  thy  son's  best  friend 
Are  a  stream  choked,  or  trickling  to  no  end." 


16 


CHAPTER    X, 

"  Ah !  Envy,  how  I  love  thee,  never ! 

Let  us  wake  the  spiteful  jest 
And  malignant  sneer :  how  clever 

'T  is  to  mar  another's  rest ! 
But  this  with  rage  I  've  often  noted  • 

When  they  let  our  shafts  alone, 
Back  they  bound  all  double-bolted, 
And,  except  ourselves,  hurt  none." 

Malice  and  Envyt  Poetic  Dialogue.  —  PERRIN. 

THE  author's  task  now  draws  to  its  conclusion ;  and,  from 
what  we  fear  will  have  been  deemed  by  many  as  but  the  dry 
and  unromantic  scenes  of  a  schoolmaster's  usually  monotonous 
life,  we  will  turn  to  others,  of  a  somewhat  varied  and  more 
exciting  character,  at  once  preluding  the  little  denouement 
of  our  story,  and  leading  to  an  unexpected  change  in  the  ap 
parent  destiny  of  its  hero,  which  called  him  from  his  present 
limited  field  of  laudable  exertion,  to  one  where  the  same 
noble  objects  could  be  pursued  with  more  extended  use 
fulness. 

One  evening,  while  the  situation  of  affairs  remained  as  we 
last  described  them,  Amsden  walked  out,  after  supper,  for  the 
purpose  of  visiting  a  sick  pupil,  the  daughter  of  very  poor 
but  worthy  parents,  living  in  a  wretched  abode,  near  the  out 
skirts  of  the  village.  On  entering  the  house,  he  was  no  less 
gratified  than  surprised  to  find  his  fair  favorite,  Mary  Mave 
rick,  standing  by  the  pillow  of  the  invalid,  soothingly  minis 
tering  to  her  necessities  and  comforts.  A  slight  tinge  of 
color  overspread  her  sweetly  eloquent  countenance,  as,  invit- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  183 

ing  him  to  a  seat  near  the  sick-bed,  she  expressed  her  happi 
ness  at  seeing  him  so  mindful  of  the  situation  of  their 
suffering  friend.  We  said  a  slight  tinge  of  color  —  it  was 
so ;  but  not  the  blush  of  shame  at  being  found  in  a  hovel,  to 
which,  unknown  to  the  proud  and  fashionable  family  of  which 
she  was  a  member,  she  had  come  to  bring  some  little  delica 
cies  of  her  own  preparing  for  the  sick  girl.  On  rising  to 
depart,  she  proffered  still  further  assistance  to  the  girl's 
mother,  and  requested  to  be  sent  for  when  she  should  be 
needed  as  a  watcher  or  otherwise.  After  witnessing  the 
broken  but  heartfelt  outpourings  of  gratitude  of  the  poor 
woman  to  her  kind  benefactress,  Locke  offered  to  attend  the 
latter  to  her  home ;  and,  the  offer  being  accepted,  the  couple 
left  the  humble  abode,  and  were  soon  at  the  door  of  the 
princely  mansion  of  the  Carters.  When  Mary  left  home, 
Mrs.  Carter  and  her  two  eldest  daughters  had  gone  out  with 
the  expectation  of  spending  the  evening  ;  and  for  that  reason, 
probably,  she  urged  her  attendant  to  go  in,  in  a  manner 
which,  contrary  to  his  previous  determination,  he  was  unable 
to  resist ;  and  he  was  accordingly  ushered  into  the  usual 
sitting  room  of  the  family,  where,  to  the  surprise  of  Miss 
Maverick,  they  not  only  found  the  supposed  absentees,  but 
their  self-styled  professor,  who  had  found  the  latter  abroad, 
and,  as  usual,  gallanted  them  home.  Although  Mary  felt 
painfully  conscious  that  the  circumstances  were  inauspicious 
for  her  friend's  introduction  to  the  family,  she  yet  had  the 
firmness  to  perform  her  part  in  the  ceremony  with  composure 
and  dignity.  The  professor,  with  a  sneering  air  of  mock 
politeness,  bowed  very  low  to  our  hero,  on  the  announcement 
of  his  name.  Mrs.  Carter  returned  his  salute  with  a  freezing 
nod ;  and  her  daughters  just  moved  their  lips,  exchanging 
with  each  other  significant  glances,  as  they  were  severally 
introduced.  Perceiving  at  once  the  character  of  his  recep 
tion,  Amsden  felt  at  a  loss  to  decide  for  himself  whether 


184  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

silence,  speaking,  or  an  abrupt  departure,  were  the 
demanded  of  him;  but,  in  his  hesitation,  he  adopted  the 
former,  and  sat,  as  did  the  rest  of  the  company,  some  mo 
ments,  without  uttering  a  word.  At  this  embarrassing  junc 
ture,  however,  Miss  Maverick  fearlessly  came  to  the  rescue, 
and,  with  the  tact  and  well-timed  effort  which  a  just  and  dis 
cerning  woman  will  alone  use  on  such  an  occasion,  and  a 
generous  and  discerning  man  alone  appreciate,  delicately 
opened  the  way  for  a  conversation  where  all  could  join,  and 
none  offend,  unless  wilfully.  But  there  was  one  present, 
conscious  perhaps  that  he  had  others  about  him.  to  support 
him  in  the  course,  who  was  not  disposed  to  act  the  part  which 
even  ordinary  good  breeding  would  have  then  dictated. 
From  the  first,  the  professor  had  conceived  the  deepest  aver 
sion  to  Amsden.  He  had  been  secretly  nettled  that  Miss 
Maverick,  whose  good-will,  but  for  his  interest  to  pay  his 
court  in  other  quarters,  he  would  have  gladly  obtained,  —  that 
Miss  Maverick  should  leave  his  school  for  another  which  he 
had  so  affected  to  despise.  And  his  animosities,  as  is  often 
the  case  with  base  and  contemptible  minds,  settled  on  the 
person  who  had  won,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  pains  he 
had  taken  to  frustrate  it,  continued  to  retain  his  pupil.  In 
addition  to  this  source  of  dislike,  the  growing  estimation  in 
which  his  rival's  school  was  held  had  lately  begun  to  alarm 
him  for  the  safety  of  his  hitherto  undisputed  dominion  over 
the  wealthy  and  fashionable  part  of  the  village.  And  he 
had  therefore  determined  to  lose  no  opportunity  to  disparage 
the  man  who  was  now  before  him. 

"  Well,  Miss  Maverick,  what  studies  are  you  pursuing  this 
winter  ? "  asked  Tilden,  thinking  thus  to  pave  the  way  for 
his  meditated  attack  on  his  hated  rival. 

"  My  spelling-book,  grammar,  and  arithmetic,  sir,"  replied 
Mary,  playfully,  yet  with  sufficient  significance  to  apprise  the 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  185 

interrogator  that  she  understood  the  motive  which  prompted 
the  question. 

"  Ay  !  "  said  the  professor,  "  well,  you  seem  to  have  been 
advancing  backward  quite  rapidly,  since  you  left  us ;  you 
were  upon  rhetoric  and  select  geometry,  I  believe." 

"True,  sir,"  rejoined  the  other;  "but  when  I  found  myself 
unable  to  answer  questions,  not  only  in  some  of  the  first 
principles  of  arithmetic,  but  even  in  those  of  orthography 
and  pronunciation,  I  thought  it  might  perhaps  not  be  amiss 
for  me  to  advance  backwards  a  little,  as  you  term  it." 

"  O,  it  is  all  correct,  doubtless,"  sneeringly  remarked  the 
professor.  "  Your  instructor,  I  presume,  sees  the  propriety 
of  taking  a  young  lady  from  the  elegant  and  refining  studies 
of  rhetoric  and  geometry,  and  placing  her  back  upon  the 
school-boy  drudgery  of  the  spelling-book  and  common  arith 
metic." 

"  The  propriety  of  this,"  replied  Amsden,  thus  insolently 
challenged  to  defend  his  course,  "  is  sufficiently  obvious  from. 
Miss  Maverick's  own  acknowledgment,  that  she  did  not  fully 
understand  some  of  the  first  principles  on  which  the  sciences 
she  had  attempted  are  based.  I  cannot  see  how  rhetoric, 
which  teaches  the  art  of  using  language  correctly  and  effect 
ively,  can  be  studied  understandingly  till  the  construction  of 
the  language  itself  is  first  understood.  And  it  is  so  with  geom 
etry  and  its  correlative  and  basing  study,  common  arithmetic, 
which  must  be  first  mastered.  When  pupils  have  done  this, 
they  may,  with  some  hope  of  profit,  enter  upon  geometry,  in 
which  they  need  not  then  be  limited  to  a  few  pretty  problems 
of  this  interesting  branch  of  science ;  or  they  may  enter 
upon  rhetoric  without  being  confined  for  illustrations  to  the 
stage-readings  of  Shakspeare,  or  the  Melodies  of  Thomas 
Moore." 

The  professor,  whose  superficial  teachings  and  manner  of 
illustrating  were  known  to  Amsden,  was  touched  by  this  re- 
16* 


lob  LOClvE    AMSDEX,    Oil 

ply  even  more  nearly  than  the  latter  was  himself  aware.  But, 
though  evidently  disconcerted,  he  contrived  to  conceal  his 
feelings,  under  an  affected  disdain  to  offer  at  this  time  any 
rejoinder  —  leaving  his  fair  worshippers  now  to  take  up  the 
discourse. 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Miss  Ann  Lucretia,  "  what  pleasure  one 
can  take  in  common  arithmetic :  for  my  part,  I  always  hated 
it.  And  as  for  the  spelling-book  —  why,  I  learned  all  there 
is  in  that  before  I  Avas  seven  years  old." 

"  "Well,  I  am  willing  all  should  follow  their  taste,"  observed 
the  next  sister ;  "  but  as  for  myself,  I  have  no  notion  of  giv 
ing  up  the  elegant  pursuits  of  our  select  academy ;  at  least, 
not  for  a  common  school,  I  am  sure." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Miss  Matilda  Mandeville,  as  usual  bringing 
up  the  rear  of  this  refined  and  accomplished  sisterhood. 
"  0  !  it  would  be  so  excessively  vulgaire  !  Now,  do  n't  you 
think  so,  Professor  Tilden  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  have  only  to  say  on  the  occasion,  ladies,"  replied 
the  professor,  who  by  this  time  had  prepared  himself  for 
what  he  supposed  would  be  an  annihilating  discharge  of  his 
spleen,  "  I  have  only  to  say  that  there  are  those  in  the  world 
whom  you  would  labor  in  vain  in  trying  to  impress  with  any 
sense  of  the  beauties  of  elegant  literature." 

"  And  there  are  again  those,  you  might  justly  add,  sir," 
promptly  rejoined  Locke,  "  whom  you  can  never  impress 
with  any  sense  of  the  beauties  of  the  sound  sciences,  for  the 
reason  that  they  do  not  understand  them." 

Upon  this,  the  professor  chose  to  consider  himself  insulted, 
and  so  much  disgusted  withal,  that  he  could  no  longer  endure 
the  presence  of  Amsden.  And,  hastily  gathering  up  his  hat, 
gloves,  &c.,  from  the  table  by  which  his  rival  had  been  sitting, 
he  moved  towards  the  door  with  the  show  of  departing,  when 
the  three  sisters  with  one  accord  rushed  after  him,  and 
begged  of  him,  for  their  sakes,  to  remain.  Mrs.  Carter,  also, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTLll.  187 

muttering  something  about  its  being  very  strange  that  some 
folks  could  not  understand  their  true  position  in  society,  ear 
nestly  joined  in  the  request  of  her  daughters.  The  soothed 
professor,  being  thus  over-persuaded,  returned  to  his  seat. 
And  Amsden,  to  relieve  the  company  from  his  presence,  rose 
to  depart.  Miss  Maverick,  whose  pride  and  high  sense  of 
honor  and  justice  had  alike  been  deeply  offended  by  this  wan 
ton  attack  on  her  friend,  waited  on  him  to  the  door  with  the 
most  marked  respect ;  and  then,  returning  into  the  room  with 
a  face  flushed  with  indignation,  replaced  the  light  she  had  tak 
en,  and  instantly  left  the  apartment  without  uttering  a  word. 

Previous  to  the  entrance  of  Amsden  and  Mary,  the  pro 
fessor  had  been  showing  the  ladies  a  guinea,  upon  the  centre 
of  which  had  been  stamped,  by  some  mechanic  through 
whose  hands  it  had  passed,  probably,  some  enigmatical  letters 
and  other  signs.  And  this  coin,  when  the  former  came  in, 
had  been  left  on  the  table  at  which  the  professor  and  his  fair 
friends  had  been  sitting,  and  by  the  side  of  which,  when  the 
position  of  the  company  became  thus  changed,  Locke  hap 
pened  to  be  placed. 

"  What  are  you  looking  for,  Professor  Tilden  ?  "  blandly 
asked  Mrs.  Carter,  as  she  observed  the  former  turning  over 
the  books  and  other  articles  on  the  table,  as  if  in  search  of 
something  missing. 

"  O,  merely  the  little  coin  we  were  amusing  ourselves  with, 
when  our  refined  visiter,  who  has  just  left,  entered  the  room; 
but  it  is  no  matter ;  it  is  somewheres  about  here,  I  presume," 
said  the  professor  carelessly. 

This  announcement  brought  all  the  ladies  round  the  table. 
A  thorough  search  was  made ;  but  the  coin  was  not  to  be 
found. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  the  professor,  musingly,  pretending  not 
to  remember  the  fact ;  "  who  sat  down  by  the  table  when  we 
rose,  on  the  entrance  of  this  visiter  ?  " 


188  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

"  Why,  it  was  Mr.  Amsden  himself/'  replied  Mrs.  Carter. 

"  So  it  was  —  to  be  sure  it  was  —  it  certainly  was  ;  and 
the  gold  piece  was  lying  on  the  table  after  he  came  in  and 
took  that  seat,"  severally  responded  the  sisters,  exchanging 
surprised  and  significant  glances  among  themselves  and  with 
their  mother. 

"  I  perceive  what  you  think,  ladies,"  said  the  professor, 
after  permitting  them  to  look  at  each  other  long  enough  to 
reach  the  conclusion  to  which  he  had  artfully  led  them  ;  "  I 
perceive  what  you  think ;  but  I  beg  of  you,"  he  continued, 
with  an  air  of  generous  forbearance,  "  I  beg  of  you  not  to 
mention  the  circumstance.  The  little  coin  is  really  of  no 
sort  of  consequence  to  me." 

"  Why  should  we  keep  it  secret  ?  I  think  the  fellow  should 
be  exposed,"  said  Mrs.  Carter,  indignantly. 

"  I  highly  appreciate  your  indignation,  madam,"  replied 
the  professor,  loftily  ;  "  I  wonder  not  that  you  should  feel 
such  a  bold  insult  on  your  house  and  family,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  requirements  of  justice.  But  what  proof  could  we 
make  ?  Nothing  that  would  answer  the  law.  I  must  there 
fore  insist  that  no  public  charge  of  the  kind  be  made." 

"  It  is  just  what  I  should  expect  of  a  vulgar  pedagogue," 
exclaimed  Miss  Matilda  Mandeville. 

"And  to  think  that  Mary  should  have  suffered  him  to 
come  here  ! "  said  another  sister. 

"  Yes,  and  the  girl  is  still  attending  the  fellow's  school !  — 
but  that  must  be  stopped,"  added  the  mother. 

"  Perhaps  that  were  unwise,"  said  the  professor,  here  inter 
posing.  "  By  taking  this  step,  you  must  give  her  the  reason  ; 
and  I  really  ask  it  as  a  great  favor  that  not  a  syllable  of  the 
unfortunate  affair  be  named  to  her,  as  it  would  be  so  very 
mortifying  to  her  feelings.  Whatever  opinion  you  may  con 
sider  it  your  duty  to  give  your  confidential  friends  respecting 
the  man's  true  character,  nothing  must  be  named  to  her. 


THE    SCHOOLMA3TKU.  189 

Indeed,  for  my  part,  I  could  wish  that  the  transaction  should 
be  kept  a  secret  from  all ;  for  I  really  cannot  but  pity  the 
fellow." 

The  professor,  having  thus  arranged  the  affair  to  his  liking 
with  his  willingly  duped  worshippers,  departed ;  secretly  ex 
ulting  in  the  thought  that  he  had  now  struck  a  blow  which 
must  result  in  removing  from  his  path  the  man  whom  he  no 
less  feared  than  hated.  And,  for  a  while,  every  thing  seem 
ed  to  promise  fair  to  operate  as  he  had  designed  it  should. 
The  story  was  studiously  kept  from  Mary,  and,  in  the  shape 
of  dark  hints  at  least,  confidentially  Avhispered  to  others, 
who,  in  their  turn,  imparted  it  to  a  second  round  of  friends, 
till  it  thus  passed,  in  constantly  widening  circles,  to  the 
public. 

Meanwhile  the  intended  victim  of  this  suddenly-devised 
and  detestable  plot  to  destroy  his  fair  fame,  continued  dili 
gently  to  discharge  the  daily  duties  of  his  fast  improving 
school,  having  not  the  least  suspicion  of  the  withering  whis 
pers  of  detraction  that  were  in  progress  around  him.  He 
was  not  permitted,  however,  to  remain  long  without  perceiv 
ing  indications  that  something  intimately  affecting  his  inter 
ests  was  secretly  operating  to  his  disadvantage  ;  but  what 
that  something  could  be,  he  was  wholly  unable  to  conjecture. 
He  at  first  noticed  a  certain  air  of  coldness  and  distrust 
towards  himself  among  many  of  his  village  acquaintance,  by 
whom  he  had  been  before  met  with  respectful  cordiality. 
His  feelings  were  next  tried  by  a  withdrawal  by  their  parents, 
on  different  pretexts,  of  some  of  the  best  pupils  of  his  school. 
And,  among  the  rest,  his  lovely  friend,  Mary  Maverick,  was 
unconsciously  made  to  add  poignancy  to  his  regrets,  and  in 
crease  his  growing  uneasiness  at  the  inauspicious  appearances 
that  seemed  to  be  gathering  over  his  path.  She  had  been 
requested  by  her  aunt  to  leave  her  school  to  assist  in  some 
business  in  the  household  line,  which,  as  it  was  pretended, 


190  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

bad  unexpectedly  arisen,  but  which,  it  was  also  urged,  must 
immediately  be  executed.  And,  feeling  herself  under  obli 
gations  to  comply,  she  had  left  the  school,  without  giving  her 
instructer,  or  deeming  it  necessary  to  give  him,  any  definite 
reasons  for  so  doing,  since  she  then  had  as  little  suspicion  of 
the  true  motives  of  the  hypocritical  request  that  had  induced 
her  to  forego  the  pleasures  of  her  pursuits  at  school,  as  she 
had  of  the  existence  of  the  contemptible  plan  laid  for  un 
dermining  the  influence  and  character  of  her  respected 
instructer. 

But,  although  Amsden  was  made,  for  a  while,  to  suffer,  in 
the  minds  of  many,  by  this  pitiful  conspiracy,  intended  to 
put  the  finishing  touch  to  the  other  means  which  had  been 
used  to  disparage  and  destroy  him,  he  was  yet  destined  soon 
to  be  exonerated  from  every  injurious  impression,  in  a  man- 
mer,  which,  had  revenge  been  any  part  of  his  nature,  would 
have  afforded  him  all  the  triumph  he  could  have  desired  over 
his  despicable  foe. 

One  evening,  as  Dr.  Lincoln  sat  in  his  study,  a  boy  enter 
ed,  and,  handing  him  a  closely-sealed  billet,  disappeared.  On 
opening  it,  he  was  surprised  to  find  it  a  confidential  note 
from  Mary  Maverick.  He  had  before  heard  several  vague 
hints  relating  to  Amsden,  which,  owing  to  his  unlimited  con 
fidence  in  the  man,  he  had  not  understood.  Some  of  the 
multiform  aspersions,  indeed,  which  had  grown  out  of  the 
professor's  notable  scheme  of  ruin,  had  lately  reached  his 
ears ;  but  he  had  considered  them  so  little  worthy  of  notice, 
that  they  had  passed  from  his  mind.  The  note  before  him, 
however,  brought  the  subject  again  to  his  thoughts,  and  he 
paused  in  its  perusal  to  try  to  recall  what  he  had  heard. 
The  writer  commenced  by  mentioning  the  various  attempts 
of  the  professor  to  asperse  Mr.  Amsden,  related  briefly  what 
took  place  at  Carter's  while  she  was  present,  described  the 
coin  which  she  herself  had  noticed  lying  on  the  table,  and 


TLK.  191 

concluded  by  divulging  what  she  hud  that  day  accidentally 
overheard  in  the  family  —  the  whole  circumstance  attend 
ing  the  pretended  loss  of  the  piece,  which  she  so  much  feared 
was  being  made  use  of  to  injure  one  whom  she  believed 
innocent,  that  she  would  not  rest  till  she  had  taken  the  pres 
ent  step,  though  by  the  act  she  run  the  risk,  she  said,  if  her 
name  should  be  brought  in  question,  of  making  still  more 
unpleasant  her  present  not  over-happy  position  in  the  family. 

"  Well,  well,  my  dove  among  jackdaws,  you  shan't  be  hurt 
for  the  noble  act  you  have  here  performed,"  said  Lincoln 
to  himself.  "  But  that  insufferable  puppy  —  ay,  villain,  as 
he  has  now  proved  himself !  Why,  there  's  not  a  doubt 
that  he  slyly  caught  up  this  guinea  with  his  gloves,  and 
pocketed  it  himself,  as  she  evidently  suspects.  Well,  he  will 
be  a  lucky  fellow  if  he  do  n't  eventually  find  himself  in  the 
pit  he  has  been  digging  for  another.  If  I  could  get  hold  of 
that  same  coin !  —  stay,  what  is  the  reason  I  have  not  seen 
one  with  similar  marks  on  it  lately,  somewhere  ?  —  yes, 
somewhere  —  let  me  think.  Ah !  I  have  it  —  and  if  I  am 
right,  no  time  should  be  lost,"  he  added,  springing  from  his 
chair,  seizing  his  hat  and  cane,  and  hastily  leaving  his  office 
for  the  destination  to  which  his  conclusions  had  directed  him. 

Prompted  by  his  hatred,  rendered  more  inveterate  by  the 
conscious  defeat  he  had  received  in  his  insolent  attack  on 
Amsden  at  Carter's,  the  professor  had  taken  a  bold  step,  and 
one  which,  to  be  successful,  required,  on  his  part,  no  little 
management  and  caution.  But,  having  seen  the  story,  or 
rather  the  odium  of  the  charge  put  afloat  in  the  shape  he 
had  contrived  to  make  it,  intangible  to  his  opponent,  and 
having  already  exultingly  witnessed  many  flattering  results 
from  his  scheme,  he  soon  became  unmindful  of  one  point 
which  he  should  have  particularly  guarded.  With  the  in 
fatuated  blindness  with  which  Providence  seems  often  to 
visit  the  secret  perpetrators  of  crime,  to  make  them  become 


192  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

the  instruments  of  their  own  detection  and  punishment,  he 
had  recently  put  away  the  coin,  and  thus  thrown  within  the 
reach  of  his  intended  victim  a  weapon  which  the  latter 
could  not  only  wield  triumphantly  in  his  own  defence,  but 
hurl  back  upon  the  head  of  the  aggressor  with  fatal  effect. 

The  professor  had  put  off  the  coin  in  question  at  the  shop 
of  a  jeweller  in  the  village,  where  he  often  made  purchases 
in  the  line  of  trinkets.  And  it  was  to  this  shop  that  the 
aroused  and  indignant  Lincoln  was  now  directing  his  steps ; 
having,  the  day  previous,  accidentally  had  a  glimpse  of  the 
important  piece,  as  he  was  receiving  change  for  a  bank-note 
offered  in  payment  for  some  surgical  instrument.  The  doctor 
was  completely  successful  in  his  object.  He  not  only  ob 
tained  the  desired  coin,  in  exchange  for  an  equal  amount  of 
his  own  money,  but  ascertained  that  it  came  from  Tilden's 
hand  but  two  days  before.  And  having  effected  this,  without 
making  known  to  the  jeweller  his  purpose  in  so  doing,  he  im 
mediately  returned,  with  the  prize  in  his  pocket,  to  his  office, 
compared  it  with  the  description  in  Mary's  note,  and  found 
it  must  be  the  identical  piece  that  Amsden  had  indirectly 
been  charged  with  purloining.  Amsden  was  instantly  sent 
for,  and  in  a  few  minutes  made  his  appearance. 

"  My  temper  has  been  sadly  ruffled,  Mr.  Amsden,"  said  the 
doctor,  pointing  the  other  to  a  chair  beside  him. 

"  Indeed,  sir  ?  "  inquiringly  replied  the  former,  in  surprise  ; 
for  he  knew  not  for  what  purpose  he  had  been  summoned. 

"  Ay  ;  but  here,  read  this  note  from  that  paragon  of  a  girl, 
Mary  Maverick,  and  heed  her  request  about  bringing  her 
name  in  question.  The  necessity  of  the  case  must  be  my 
excuse  for  showing  it,  even  to  you." 

Locke  read  the  billet,  part  of  it,  at  least,  with  the  utmost 
astonishment. 

"  And  what  do  you  think  now,  sir  ?  "  asked  Lincoln,  as  the 
other  finished  the  perusal  of  the  paper. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  193 

"  As  I  judge  she  does.  I  was  aware  of  Tilden's  disposi 
tion  to  injure  me ;  and  I  have  been  conscious,  for  a  week  or 
two  past,  that  some  secret  influence  was  operating  against  me 
and  my  school,  in  which  I  suspected  the  fellow  was  exercis 
ing  an  active  part.  But  I  little  dreamed  that  he  would  resort 
to  a  measure  so  base  and  reckless.  Why,  sir,  what  would 
you  make  of  a  man  who  could  do  this  ?  " 

"  An  arrogant,  but  mean  and  revengeful  puppy.  He  has 
not  wit  enough  even  to  dignify  him  with  the  name  of  villain. 
Look  here !  did  you  ever  see  that  coin  before  ? "  said  the 
speaker,  taking  out  the  piece  he  had  just  obtained  from  the 
jeweller,  and  handing  it  to  Arnsden. 

"  I  have,"  replied  the  latter,  as  he  inspected  the  piece  with 
a  look  of  joyful  surprise.  "  I  saw  it  lying  on  the  table  at 
Carter's,  on  the  evening  in  question,  and  noticed  these  marks 
on  the  face  of  it.  It  is  the  same,  and  lucky  the  chance  that 
has  brought  it  to  the  hands  of  a  friend.  I  should  not  fear 
this  story  with  those  who  know  me ;  but  with  others,  this 
would  furnish  the  only  testimony  that  would  save  me  from 
disgrace.  Where  did  you  get  hold  of  it  ?  " 

The  doctor  then  related  the  circumstances  we  have  already 
mentioned,  and  concluded  by  saying,  — 

"  Well,  Mr.  Amsden,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  about  this 
despicable  business  ?  " 

"  I  shall  not  suffer  it  to  rest  here,  sir,"  replied  the  other, 
decidedly. 

"  Nor  I ;  but  what  course  are  you  thinking  to  pursue  ? " 
asked  the  former. 

"  To  arrest  the  mischief  at  the  fountain-head,"  answered 
Amsden,  with  increasing  energy.  "I  had  heard  of  the 
course  of  this  pitiful  traducer  towards  myself,  previous  to 
encountering  him  at  Carter's ;  but  I  was  not  much  troubled 
by  it.  And  even  when  I  there  met  him,  and  received  from 
him  what  I  felt  was  most  ungentlemanly  treatment,  it  did  not 
17 


194  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

disturb  me  so  much  as  some  other  circumstances  that  have 
occurred  since  my  residence  among  you.  But  this  subse 
quent  attempt  is  of  a  different  character.  And  in  justice  to 
my  school,  and  to  you,  sir,  my  employer,  as  well  as  to  myself, 
I  shall  lake  prompt  means  to  clear  myself  from  the  asper 
sion.  He  shall  bring  me  before  some  legal  tribunal,  or,  if 
possible,  I  will  bring  him." 

"  Well,  said  Lincoln,  musingly,  walking  the  room  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  ;  "  well,  I  do  n't  see  why  you  have  not 
now  the  staff  in  your  own  hands.  But  have  you  thought  of 
all  the  results  that  may  flow  from  the  measures  you  propose  ? 
If  I  predict  right,  your  course  will  end  in  driving  him  from 
the  town.  Where  then,"  continued  the  speaker,  assuming  a 
look  and  tone  of  sarcastic  irony,  "  where  then  will  be  our 
Select  Academy  of  Elegant  Literature,  '  so  very  distingue  '  ? 
where  then  will  be  obtained  the  accomplishments  it  affords, 
'  so  very  recherche  '  ?  Think,  sir,  of  the  luckless  situation  in 
which  the  fashionable  society  of  Carters  ville  would  then  be 
left  —  think  of  the  half-drawn  landscapes  which  must  be 
thrown  aside  —  the  unstrung  harps  and  pianos  that  will  have 
been  purchased  at  such  cost  but  to  be  abandoned  —  think  of 
the  public  calamity  that  must  ensue  from  compelling  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  wealthy  and  genteel  to  depend  only  for 
their  accomplishments  on  those  old,  worn-out,  unfashionable, 
and  vulgar  studies  which  you  still  persist  in  teaching  —  and, 
above  all,  think  of  the  deplorable  condition  of  our  young 
ladies,  if  they  were  thus  driven  from  their  French,  and  could 
only  converse  in  nothing  but  common  English." 

"  Ay,  ay,"  said  Locke,  laughing ;  "  but  we  will  leave  it  to 
the  professor  to  chant  the  elegy,  if  such  sad  consequences  are 
to  follow  from  his  own  acts.  In  the  mean  time,  let  me  ask 
you  to  furnish  me  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper." 

"  What !  are  you  going  to  send  a  note  to  the  professor,  to 
Bet  before  him  the  alternative  you  mentioned  —  that  of  pros- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  195 

ecuting  or  being  prosecuted  ?  "  asked  the  other,  handing  the 
required  materials. 

"  I  am,  sir,"  replied  Amsden,  beginning  to  write. 

"  Do  so,"  rejoined  Lincoln,  approvingly.  And  I  am  glad 
to  see  you  act  with  so  much  spirit  and  promptitude  on  the 
occasion.  You  shall  not  want  for  one  friend  to  stand  by  you. 
But  perhaps  you  had  not  better  let  him  know  that  we  have 
got  possession  of  the  guinea.  And,  further,  I  think  I  would 
give  him  some  little  time  —  say  a  fortnight,  to  undo  all  the 
mischief  he  has  done ;  that  is,  to  retract,  confess,  and  follow 
his  slanders  through  every  channel  where  he  has  sent  them, 
and  honestly  refute  them,  if  he  prefers  that  course :  if  not, 
then  let  him  take  one  of  the  alternatives  you  have  just 
named." 

"  I  will  follow  your  suggestions,"  answered  Amsden.  "  The 
first  may  be  a  wise  one ;  the  last  is  certainly  merciful,  and  if 
he  will  profit  by  it,  I  shall  have  no  disposition  further  to 
molest  him." 

The  note  was  completed,  and  immediately  sent  off  to  its 
destination  by  one  of  the  servants  of  the  house  ;  when  Locke 
and  his  friend  separated,  to  await  with  patience,  and  silently, 
the  result  of  their  movement. 

We  will  now  turn  to  the  soi-disant  professor,  with  whom 
we  shall  have  but  little  more  to  do ;  for  his  career,  in  this 
place,  as  Dr.  Lincoln  had  shrewdly  predicted,  was  now  a 
brief  one.  He  was  alone  in  his  room  when  the  doctor's  ser 
vant  entered  and  delivered  Amsden's  letter,  which,  as  he 
knew  the  servant,  he  received  with  rather  a  doubtful  and 
uneasy  expression.  And  no  sooner  was  the  messenger's 
back  turned,  than  he  tore  open  the  note,  and  eagerly  ran 
over  its  contents,  at  which  his  usual  air  of  swaggering  assur 
ance  instantly  forsook  him.  Crumpling  up  the  paper,  and 
thrusting  it  into  his  pocket,  he  rose,  and  for  some  moments 
paced  the  floor  in  visible  agitation. 


196  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

"  Perhaps  it  is  not  too  late  to  defeat  him  now,"  he  at  length 
began  to  think  aloud.  "  But  that  guinea  must  be  secured, 
and  the  man  must  be  bribed  to  hold  his  tongue.  I  wonder  I 
was  so  thoughtless ;  but  these  shopmen  are  so  clamorous  for 
their  debts.  Yes,  I  must  have  that  before  I  sleep,  and  luckily 
I  now  have  what  will  bring  it." 

So  saying,  he  threw  his  gaily-tasselled  cloak  over  his 
shoulders,  and  took  his  way  to  the  shop  of  the  jeweller, 
whom  he  found  preparing  to  retire  for  the  night. 

"  You  recollect  that  curiously  stamped  gold  piece  I  paid 
you  the  other  day  ?  "  said  the  professor  to  the  man. 
«  Yes." 

"  Well,  it  being  a  present  from  a  friend  in  town,  whom  I 
would  not  for  the  world  have  know  that  I  had  parted  with  it, 
I  have  brought  the  amount  in  other  money  to  get  it  back 
again." 

"  Why,  sir,  I  'm  sorry,  but  you  are  a  little  too  late." 
"  Plow  so  ?  " 

"  I  parted  with  it  this  very  evening." 
"  To  whom,  pray  ?  " 
"  To  Dr.  Lincoln." 

The  professor  actually  turned  pale  at  the  announcement ; 
but  he  made  shift  to  stammer  out,  with  an  effort  at  indif 
ference,  "  O,  well,  it 's  no  sort  of  consequence,  sir,"  and  ab 
ruptly  departed. 

He  was  now  in  a  dilemma,  from  which  he  could  see  no 
way  to  escape  without  disgrace  to  his  character,  or  ruin  to 
his  prospects.  Turn  which  way  he  would,  the  difficulties 
seemed  equally  insurmountable.  Whether  he  prosecuted  or 
was  prosecuted  himself,  an  investigation  must  ensue,  which 
he  well  knew  would  place  him  in  a  light  alike  fatal  to  his 
pretensions  and  prospects.  Should  he  take  the  other  alter 
native,  confess,  and  try  to  recall  his  slanders,  he  must  not 
only  virtually  proclaim  himself  a  liar  and  a  contemptible 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  197 

calumniator,  but  at  the  same  time  elevate  his  rival  at  the 
expense  of  his  own  degradation.  In  short,  he  plainly  foresaw 
that  the  days  of  his  glory  in  Cartersville  were  numbered. 
And  he  soon  concluded  to  shape  his  course  accordingly. 

It  was  among  the  very  last  of  the  unimproved  days  of 
grace  that  had  been  allowed  the  professor,  when  one  morn 
ing,  as  the  Carter  family  assembled  for  breakfast,  Miss  Ann 
Lucretia,  the  eldest  daughter,  failed  to  make  her  appearance. 
A  search  was  made  through  the  house ;  but  she  was  still 
among  the  missing.  All  was  now  confusion  and  alarm. 
Messengers  were  despatched  to  all  those  places  about  the 
village,  to  which  it  was  thought  possible  she  might  have 
gone  out  before  the  family  had  risen.  No  tidings,  however, 
of  the  object  of  the  search  could  be  obtained ;  and  one  of 
the  messengers,  on  his  return,  further  reported  that  Professor 
Tilden  was  also  missing.  A  painful  suspicion  crossed  the 
minds  of  the  weak  and  blinded  parents.  They  now  recol 
lected  that  their  daughter,  for  the  past  week,  had  been  much 
of  the  time  alone  with  her  instructor ;  and  that  she  had  also, 
during  the  time,  found  some  excuse  for  sleeping  in  a  room 
by  herself,  from  which  an  easy  access  could  be  had  to  the 
outer  door.  And  they  ran  instantly  to  the  apartment  she 
had  occupied.  Her  bed  had  not  been  used  the  past  night, 
and  all  her  best  apparel  had  disappeared.  The  whole  truth 
was  now  disclosed.  She  had  eloped  with  the  professor. 
Mrs.  Carter  was  deeply  chagrined,  though  she  said  little, 
except  to  express  her  surprise.  But  Mr.  Carter,  who  now 
saw  his  folly  in  leaving  every  thing  relating  to  his  daughters  to 
his  wife,  was  loud  in  his  denunciations  of  the  conduct  of  both 
of  the  absconding  couple,  and  at  first  declared  his  intention 
to  pursue  them.  But,  reflecting  that  before  this  time  they 
were  probably  married,  and  thirty  miles  distant,  on  their  way 
to  one  of  the  cities,  he  soon  gave  up  the  thought.  There 
were  others,  however,  in  the  village  —  in  which  the  occur- 
17* 


198  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

rence  made  much  stir  —  who,  for  a  different  reason,  actually 
made  preparations  for  pursuit.  These  were  the  merchants, 
tailors,  shoemakers,  &c.,  who  had  been  favored  by  the  liberal 
patronage  of  the  professor,  during  his  year's  residence  in  town. 
But  they,  too,  soon  discovered,  on  recurring  to  their  claims, 
that  their  man  had  prudently  placed  himself  out  of  their 
reach  for  the  present.  It  appeared  that,  during  the  past 
fortnight,  he  had  not  only  obtained  all  that  was  due  him  from 
his  patrons,  but  had  taken  the  precaution  to  settle  with  all 
his  creditors,  paying  off  some  of  the  least,  and  giving  his 
notes  to  the  rest,  payable  in  one  or  two  months.  And,  it 
being  thus  found  that  pursuit  would  be  alike  useless  to  all 
parties  concerned,  the  measure  was  at  length  abandoned,  and 
the  distinguished  pair  left  to  pursue  their  journey  unmolested. 
During  the  forenoon,  the  following  note,  which  had  been 
overlooked  in  the  first  search,  addressed  to  the  oldest  remain 
ing  sister,  was  found  in  the  room  last  occupied  by  the  fair 
fugitive :  — 

"  DEAR  ANGELINE, 

"  Before  you  receive  this,  I  shall  be  Mrs.  Manlius  C.  .W 
Tilden.    We  have  engaged  a  fleet  pair  of  horses  and  a  rapid 

driver  to   take  us  to ,  where  a  magistrate  will  be  in 

waiting  to  tie  the  knot,  and  where,  having  been  joined  by  a 
friend  of  Mr.  T.  as  bridesman  and  compagnon  du  voyage,  AVC 
shall  take  the  stage  at  four  o'clock,  A.M.,  for  New  York  — 
Mr.  T.'s  former  residence,  you  know.  He  has  been  for  some 
time  getting  disgusted  with  the  petty  annoyances  of  a  coun 
try  village,  which,  besides,  he  says,  is  no  field  for  his  talents. 
But  he  could  not  bear  to  leave  me.  He  offered  his  hand ; 
and,  fearing  papa  would  object,  especially  to  so  sudden  a 
match  as  he  was  resolved  to  make,  or  none  —  he  proposed 
the  present  romantic  manner  of  making  our  adieus  to  Car- 
tersville  —  it  is  so  like  him  !  Well,  Angeline,  what  would 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  199 

you  have  done  ?  But  if  you  had  felt  the  tender  sentiment, 
I  know  what  you  would  have  done.  And  then  think  of  the 
enviable  station  I  shall  fill  among  the  very  elite  of  city 
society,  surrounded  by  all  the  elegancies  and  refinements  of 
city  life !  All  this  he  feels  free  to  promise  me ;  and  I  do 
suppose  he  is  soon  to  come  in  possession  of  a  splendid  fortune, 
though  he  is  so  modest  about  it  that  I  only  obtained  the  secret 
from  him  by  some  inadvertent  hints  he  has  dropped.  I 
anticipate  how  surprised  you  will  all  be,  and  I  hardly  expect 
papa  will  fully  approve  my  course  at  first  —  perhaps  mamma 
will  not ;  but  I  know  you  will  appreciate  me,  and  so  will  Ma 
tilda  Mandevelle.  I  will  write  you  again  when  we  reach  the 
city,  till  which, 

"  With  all  the  sensibilities  of  a  refined  nature, 

"  I  remain  affectionately,  your 

"ANN  LUCRETIA." 

The  name  and  character  of  the  friend  and  compagnon  du 
voyage,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  epistle,  was  more  fully 
disclosed  the  next  day,  by  the  following  editorial  notice  in 
The  Blazing  Star,  which  came  into  town,  all  damp  from  the 
press  of  Mill-Town  Emporium :  — 

"BASENESS   EXPOSED! 

"  Our  flourishing  village  was  thrown  into  confusion  this 
morning,  by  the  discovery  that  our  village  schoolmaster, 
Blake  by  name,  —  if  that  be  his  true  name, — had  decamped, 
having  artfully  obtained  the  wages  for  the  full  term  of  his 
engagement,  but  a  little  more  than  half  of  which  he  had 
fulfilled.  Some  fears  are  also  entertained  respecting  the 
value  of  a  pretended  jewelled  watch  which  he  lately  sold  to 
one  of  our  citizens  for  fifty  dollars ;  but  enough  has  been 
said  to  caution  the  public,  which,  as  faithful  journalists,  was 
our  duty  to  do.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  fellow 


200  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

was  an  impostor.  And  our  political  patrons  will  not  be  sur 
prised  to  learn,  that  his  politics,  though  he  at  first  professed 
to  hold  to  our  true  doctrines,  turned  out  to  be  in  unison  with 
those  of  that  party  from  whom  such  things  are  to  be  ex 
pected. —  Ed.  Blazing  Star" 

It  was  now  evident  that  the  dashing  professor,  and  his  less 
accomplished,  though  scarcely  less  superficial  friend,  Blake, 
who,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  was  Amsden's  successful 
rival  in  the  competition  for  the  Mill-Town  school,  were  con 
federate  impostors.  But  what  had  been  the  nature  of  their 
previous  connection,  or  whether  their  career  had  been  mark 
ed  by  outright  villanies,  or  merely  by  petty  impositions  on 
the  public,  was  not  known  for  nearly  a  fortnight ;  when  a 
young  merchant  from  New  York,  arriving  on  a  visit  to  his 
relatives  in  the  village,  reported  that  he  had  encountered, 
soon  after  leaving  the  city,  the  bride,  her  husband,  and  his 
friend ;  and  soon  recognized  the  two  last-named  worthies  as  a 
couple  of  fourth-rate  actors,  or  some  other  unimportant  ad 
juncts  of  one  of  the  city  theatres,  from  which  they  had  both 
been  driven  in  disgrace  about  two  years  before ;  after  which 
they  had  occasionally  been  heard  from,  perambulating  the 
country  in  the  same  direction  ;  one  —  that  is,  Tilden  —  pre 
tending  to  lecture  on  elocution,  the  art  of  reading,  &c.,  and 
the  other  obtaining  unauthorized  subscriptions  for  periodicals. 
And  these  important  and  honest  employments,  it  was  thus 
made  probable,  they  had  pursued,  till  the  former  found  an 
inviting  opening  for  his  versatile  talents  in  a  new  character 
among  the  would-be  fashionables  of  Cartersville,  and  after 
wards  another,  for  his  congenial  friend,  in  Mill-Town  Em 
porium. 

This  was  indeed  a  mortifying  development  for  the  proud 
Carters  ;  and  the  females  especially,  who  had  never  dreamed 
of  any  of  their  number  marrying  any  thing  short  of  counts, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  201 

congress-men,  or  something  equally  high-sounding,  could 
hardly  hold  up  their  heads,  under  the  keen  sense  of  the  dis 
grace  which  they  conceived  had  been  brought  on  their  family. 
Mr.  Carter,  however,  who  cared  little  for  any  other  family 
distinction  than  what  property,  or  at  least  the  certainty  of  a 
good  living,  would  confer  —  still  had  some  hopes  that  his 
daughter,  rash  as  she  had  been,  might  after  all  have  married 
a  man  of  enterprise,  integrity,  and  capacity  sufficient  to 
maintain  her  respectably  from  his  own  resources.  But  the 
solace  of  even  these  faint  hopes  was  soon  taken  from  him. 
In  a  few  days  more,  he  himself  received  a  letter  from  his 
deluded  child,  the  main  points  of  which  were  evidently  dic 
tated  by  her  husband. 

After  excusing  herself  for  the  step  she  had  taken  in  the 
best  way  she  could,  and  speaking  of  her  prospects  in  a  much 
more  moderate  tone  than  that  which  pervaded  her  letter  to 
her  sister  on  her  departure,  she  told  her  father  that  she  felt 
very  sure,  whatever  might  happen,  that  he  would  never  let  her 
want  money  to  support  her  in  the  style  in  which  he  had  brought 
her  up ;  and  then  she  added,  that  Tilden — it  was  now  plain 
Tilden  —  had  met  with  a  chance  to  invest  her  portion  to 
very  great  advantage,  and  was  very  anxious,  for  Tier  sake,  to 
have  it  sent  on,  in  drafts  on  some  bank  or  commercial  house 
in  the  city.  The  amount,  she  said,  could  not  be  less  than 
twenty  thousand  dollars ;  but  she  would  be  content,  at  present, 
with  ten  thousand.  This  she  begged  of  her  father  not  to 
neglect  sending  in  a  few  days,  as  it  would  make  her  husband 
so  much  happier.  And  in  a  postscript  she  repeated,  "  Do 
not  fail  to  send  on  the  drafts." 

This  was  too  much  for  the  old  gentleman,  who,  being  by 
no  means  wanting  in  sagacity,  now  at  once  read  the  true 
character  of  Tilden,  and  the  base  motives  which  had  gov 
erned  him  in  drawing  the  weak  and  unsuspecting  girl  into 
this  clandestine  marriage. 


202  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

"  Ten  tliousand  ! "  lie  exclaimed  to  himself,  as,  hurling  the 
letter  into  the  fire,  he  hastily  strode  round  his  counting-room 
in  a  paroxysm  of  exasperated  feeling  —  "  ten  thousand  ! 
Quite  modest,  truly !  O !  the  worthless,  fortune-hunting 
scoundrel !  Ten  thousand !  He  will  be  apt  to  get  it,  I 
think.  But  what  will  become  of  the  poor,  deceived,  ruined 
girl  ?  "  he  continued,  his  indignation  softening  into  pity.  "  If 
she  ever  gets  rid  of  the  villain,  I  hope  there  may  be  that 
sum  left  for  her.  But  the  rig  these  women  have  run  !  And 
I,  like  a  fool,  have  yielded  to  it !  I  fear  —  I  fear,  that  this 
disaster  to  my  family  will  prove  but  the  forerunner  of  worse 
ones.  Heaven  help  me  ! " 

The  words  of  the  distressed  and  foreboding  father  were 
but  too  prophetic ;  for  this  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  mis 
fortunes  which  were  destined  to  fall,  in  rapid  succession, 
upon  this  house  of  folly,  and  level  its  vain-glorious  preten 
sions  with  the  dust.  But,  as  this  will  appear  by  pursuing 
the  main  thread  of  our  narrative,  we  will  now  return  to  our 
hero. 

As  the  reader  may  have  perhaps  already  anticipated,  the 
disgraceful  flight  of  Tilden,  and  the  disclosures  that  followed, 
respecting  not  only  his  character  and  false  pretensions,  but 
the  base  slanders  he  had  originated,  operated  as  a  proud 
triumph  to  Amsden  and  his  school.  Many  a  man  is  indebted 
for  his  character  almost  wholly  to  contrast.  And  if  such  be 
the  effect  —  as  under  favoring  circumstances  it  often  is  —  of 
a  contrast  between  the  demerits  of  one,  and  the  mere  nega 
tive  qualities  of  another,  in  conferring  character  on  the 
latter,  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  the  operation  of  this 
principle,  under  circumstances  so  well  calculated  to  call  it 
into  action,  did  not  greatly  tend  to  bring  one  of  Amsden's 
high  desert  into  notice,  and  place  him  on  the  elevation  to 
which  his  merits  entitled  him.  It  did  so.  The  very  meas 
ures  that  Tilden  had  taken  for  the  disparagement  and  ruin 


SCHOOLMASTER.  203 

of  his  rival  were  now  the  means  of  turning  the  minds  of 
the  public  to  a  comparison  between  the  two,  and  of  causing 
thereby  to  be  done  to  the  latter  that  justice  which  he  other 
wise  might  never  have  obtained.  All  the  pupils  that,  on 
different  pretences,  had  been  withdrawn  from  his  school,  were 
at  once  permitted  to  return.  The  professor's  Academy  of 
Elegant  Literature  became,  by  the  association  with  its 
doughty  projector,  a  theme  of  ridicule ;  and  the  empty,  and 
worse  than  empty,  accomplishments  it  afforded,  soon  began  to 
be  accounted  —  as  the  miserable  scientific  tinselings  imparted 
by  hundreds  of  other  similar  establishments  in  our  land 
under  the  name  of  accomplishments  deserve  to  be  accounted  — 
less  a  term  of  honor  than  reproach.  Even  those  ultra  gen 
teel  families  who  had  only  patronized  the  select  or  private 
school  system,  now  sent  in  their  children,  and  began  to  open 
their  eyes  to  the  solid  advantages  to  be  obtained  from  com 
mon  schools,  under  well-qualified  instructors.  The  remainder 
of  our  hero's  term  of  engagement,  therefore,  was  marked 
with  a  success  that  amply  repaid  him  for  all  his  previous 
toils  and  vexations  ;  and  his  labors  now  became  as  pleasant 
for  himself  as  they  were  profitable  to  his  pupils. 

It  was  now  past  the  middle  of  April.  The  period  for 
which  Amsden  had  concluded  to  continue  his  instructions 
had  at  length  drawn  to  a  close ;  and  the  time  had  arrived 
when  he  was  called  to  that  interesting  yet  mournful  task  for 
a  teacher  —  the  parting  with  his  pupils,  on  the  last  day  and 
hour  of  his  school. 

The  tie  that  obtains  between  instructor  and  pupil,  where 
the  right  feelings  have  been  cherished  and  reciprocated,  is 
one  of  peculiar  interest.  It  consists,  in  the  bosoin  of  the 
one,  of  that  tender  regard,  that  disinterested  affection,  which 
is  made  up  of  several  of  the  best  and  strongest  propensities  of 
our  nature  —  the  compassionate  and  kindly  inclination  which 
the  conscious  strong  are  prone  to  entertain  towards  the  weak 


204  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

and  dependent;  the  regard  which  is  engendered  towards 
those  with  whom  habit  has  made  us  familiar,  and  the  peculiar 
favor  with  which  we  are  wont  to  view  our  own  creations,  as 
the  minds,  manners,  and  characters  of  those  we  have  suc 
cessfully  taught,  may  be  considered  ;  —  in  the  bosom  of  one, 
it  consists  of  this.  In  that  of  the  other,  the  tie  is  composed 
of  that  reverential  esteem  which  is  founded  in  the  blended 
principles  of  gratitude  for  benefits  received,  and  the  inherent 
respect  which  is  ever  i'elt  for  superior  powers,  all  combining  to 
form  the  purest  and  the  most  exalted  friendship  that  ennobles 
the  human  heart.  The  connection,  indeed,  has  about  it  a 
beautiful  patriarchal  character,  which  renders  it  one  of  the 
most  interesting  relations  in  the  world.  And  few  can  look 
back  'to  the  final  parting  with  a  respected  and  beloved  in 
structor,  without  the  most  grateful  emotions. 

The  parting  hour,  as  we  have  said,  had  come  —  too  soon 
come.  The  farewell  address,  fraught  with  many  an  allusion 
to  all  that  could  be  remembered  for  praise  in  the  past,  many 
a  kind  word  of  advice  for  the  future,  and  many  an  affection 
ate  wish  for  the  individual  prosperity  and  happiness  of  each 
and  all  of  the  eloquently  silent  and  often  tearful  little  audi 
tory,  was  spoken,  and  the  word  of  final  dismissal  reluctantly 
pronounced.  With  a  thoughtful  and  solemn  quietness  of 
manner,  little  resembling  the  noisy  glee  of  other  occasions, 
the  books  were  gathered ;  and  one  by  one  the  dispersing  band 
came  up,  took  the  proffered  hand  of  their  loved  instructer, 
uttered  the  subdued  good-bye.,  and  departed.  But  why  was 
that  hand,  as  if  too  busy  with  other  occupations,  so  long 
withheld  from  one  more  tenderly  regarded  than  all  the  rest  ? 
And  why  did  she,  without  concert  or  request,  still  linger,  till 
the  last  adieu  had  been  spoken,  and  the  last  retreating  form 
disappeared  from  the  room  —  still  linger  to  receive  it  ?  And 
why,  in  the  hesitating,  tremulous,  and  prolorigued  grasp  that 
then  followed,  was  no  farewell,  no  word,  no  syllable,  or 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  205 

sound,  uttered  ?  Why  were  these  two,  whose  thoughts  on 
science,  literature,  the  sentiments,  or  other  general  topics, 
ever  seemed  to  flow  together,  like  two  uniting  streams  from 
fountains  of  kindred  purity  and  clearness,  and  whose  tongues 
ever  before  grew  eloquent  in  the  converse  which  was  sure 
to  spring  up  between  them,  and  which  never  wearied, — why 
were  two  like  these  dumb  now  ?  There  are  states  of  feeling, 
when  the  strong,  deep-laid  elements  of  the  heart  are  stirred, 
which  seem  wholly  to  reject  the  utterance  of  language,  — 
sometimes  because  words  must  fail  of  an  adequate  expression, 
and  sometimes  because  those  feelings  are  so  consciously 
sacred,  that  they  involuntarily  shrink  from  the  conceived 
profanation  of  such  a  medium.  Both  of  these  cases  might 
have  been  combined  at  this  parting  between  Locke  Amsden 
and  Mary  Maverick.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  quivering  lip 
and  the  agitated  countenance  of  the  one,  and  the  quick-heav 
ing  bosom  and  the  gushing  eye  of  the  other,  as,  from  the  long 
mute  grasp  they  turned  hurriedly  away,  constituted  the  only 
language  that  told  the  sensations  of  their  hearts.  It  had 
never  spoken  before;  but  it  had  spoken  distinctly  now,  reveal 
ing  to  them,  for  the  first  time,  their  own  and  each  other's 
secret,  and  apprising  them  that  the  deep,  unanalyzed,  unac 
knowledged  feeling,  that  had  been  sleeping  and  gathering 
strength  in  their  attracted  bosoms,  had  a  name ;  and  that 
its  name  was  only  to  be  found  in  the  magic  word,  Love. 


18 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"A  long-lost  friend,  or  hapless  child  restored, 
Smiles  at  his  blazing  hearth  and  social  board ; 
Warm  from  his  heart  the  tears  of  rapture  flow, 
And  virtue  triumphs  o'er  remembered  woe." 

CAMPBELL. 

BIDDING  adieu  to  the  now  deserted  and  lonely  mansion 
which  to  him  had  been,  for  the  four  past  fleeting  months,  the 
scene  of  so  many  mingling  pleasures,  toils,  and  trials,  our 
hero,  with  slow  and  pensive  steps,  returned  to  his  lodgings. 
He  had  contemplated  making  several  calls  that  evening,  both 
for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  the  reciprocation  of 
courtesies  received,  preparatory  to  leaving  town  the  next 
morning.  But  the  strong  and  varied  emotions  which  had 
been  excited  in  the  scene  he  had  just  passed  through,  added 
to  the  state  of  his  health,  that,  for  several  days,  he  had  felt 
to  be  giving  way,  had  so  much  disinclined  and  unfitted  him 
to  meet  company,  that  he  soon  concluded  to  defer  his  visits 
till  the  following  morning,  and  retire,  as  he  early  did,  to  the 
more  congenial  seclusion  of  his  own  room,  where  he  could 
indulge  the  rnoody  reveries  of  his  mind,  and  the  physical 
languor  of  his  feelings,  unrestrained  and  unmolested.  Here 
his  thoughts  reverted  to  the  past.  He  recalled  the  interest 
ing  incidents  described  at  the  opening  of  these  pages,  form 
ing,  as  he  was  ever  sensible,  the  first  marked  era  of  his  life. 
He  recurred  to  the  unconsciously  prophetic  intimation  then 
given  him  of  his  subsequent  career  by  her  whose  image, 
while  she  thus  indicated  the  way,  imparted  an  ever-during 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  207 

impulse  to  pursue  it.  And  with  pleased  and  curious  thought, 
he  ran  over  the  events  that  followed :  the  persevering  exer 
tions  which  had  resulted  in  bringing  him  before  the  public  as 
a  teacher ;  the  engagement  in  his  first  school,  attended  by 
the  singular  circumstances  that  led  to  an  acquaintance  with 
the  only  man  who  would  have  brought  him  to  Cartersville, 
and  the  only  man,  who,  when  this  was  effected,  would  or 
could  have  placed  him  and  the  fair  prophetess  and  seeming 
maker  of  his  fortunes  together  in  the  relation  they  had  lately 
sustained  to  each  other.  He  saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  in  all 
this,  a  train  of  circumstances  which  formed  the  connecting 
links  of  a  chain  of  destiny,  which,  from  the  parts  disclosed, 
the  ministering  sisters,  Hope  and  Fancy,  now  tempted  him 
to  trace  onward  into  the  dim  confines  of  futurity,  gilding  the 
way  for  him,  as  usual,  with  many  a  bright  illusion,  and 
opening  to  his  enchanted  view  many  a  fairy  scene  of  love 
and  happiness  for  him  and  the  fair  cynosure  of  his  waking 
dream.  But  Reason  and  Conscience,  here  interposing,  check 
ed  the  lured  heart  in  its  rising  anticipations,  and  coldly  whis 
pered  of  present  destitution,  —  of  the  distant  prospect  of 
worldly  means,  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  of  orphan 
innocence,  inexperience,  and  perhaps  love,  that  might  listen 
to  a  connection  involving  circumstances  which  must  defeat 
its  own  object,  and  bring  poverty  and  its  attendant  miseries 
upon  one  who  was  worthy  of,  and  who  would  otherwise  meet 
with,  a  happier  destiny. 

Such  were  the  conflicting  emotions  that  now  strangely 
agitated  the  usually  tranquil  mind  of  Amsden,  as,  for  hours, 
he  slowly  paced  his  solitary  apartment,  sometimes  cheering 
himself  with  the  visions  of  Hope,  and  sometimes,  as  he 
looked  upon  the  stern  realities  of  his  present  situation,  and 
those  which  his  judgment  told  him  would  be  likely  to  succeed, 
sinking  into  despondency.  The  latter  feeling,  however,  as 
little  good  cause  as  he  could  assign  for  it,  in  any  thing  relat- 


208  LOCKE    AMSDEX,    OR 

ing  to  the  past,  or  the  rational  prospects  of  the  future,  seemed 
more  and  more  to  predominate.  And,  as  the  evening  wore 
away,  he  became  conscious  of  an  unusual  depression  of 
spirits,  a  certain  boding  solicitude  and  restlessness  of  mind, 
for  which  he  could  not  account,  but  which  he  could  not  but 
feel  to  be  vaguely  suggestive  of  some  jeopardized  interest, 
or  some  approaching  crisis  of  his  fortunes.  After  endeavor 
ing  awhile,  in  vain,  to  shake  off  these  constantly  intruding 
fancies,  he  betook  himself  to  his  pilloAV,  and  soon  fell  asleep. 
But  sleep  brought  no  repose  to  disturbed  sensibilities.  The 
sweet  restorer  had  lost  the  power  of  tranquillizing.  It  is 
Dryden,  we  believe,  who  says,  in  a  couplet  alike  remarkable 
for  neatness  of  expression  and  condensed  poetic  thought,  — 

"  Dreams  are  but  interludes  that  Fancy  makes  ;  — 
When  Reason  sleeps,  her  mimic  monster  wakes." 

But  whether  this  contains  the  true  philosophy  of  dreams  or 
not,  it  is  certain  that  the  idea  here  conveyed  seemed  to  be 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  visions  of  the  sleeper,  that  now 
succeeded.  While  the  same  dark  current  of  thoughts  and 
undefined  solicitudes  which  occupied  his  last  waking  moments 
continued  to  run  in  his  mind,  those  thoughts,  as  reason  ceased 
to  control  and  regulate,  soon  began  to  shape  themselves  into 
a  succession  of  wild  and  mysterious  fantasies.  In  all  of 
these,  however,  one  characteristic  prevailed.  They  all  pre 
sented  Mary  Maverick  as  the  principal  figure,  and  always  in 
circumstances  of  difficulty  or  danger.  In  the  last  mimic 
scene  that  was  conjured  up  by  the  changing  fancies  of  the 
troubled  dreamer,  he  at  first  seemed  reclining  on  the  flowery 
bank  of  a  sun-lit  lake ;  a  light  boat  came  wafting  before  the 
ruffling  breeze  towards  the  spot  where  he  lay  ;  as  it  approach 
ed,  he  distinguished,  seated  within,  the  same  angelic  form 
and  face  which,  in  different  situations,  had  been  constantly 
rising  on  his  vision.  She  raised  her  white  hand  in  token  of 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  209 

gratulation.  He  even  thought  he  could  trace  the  sweet 
dimpling  smile  with  which  she  was  wont  to  receive  him, 
playing  upon  her  countenance.  "  In  one  moment  more,"  he 
thought,  "  she  will  be  safe  and  happy,  and  all  her  fearful 
trials  and  perils  will  be  over."  But  while  he  yet  spoke,  the 
sun  became  suddenly  hid  by  doubling  racks  of  dark  and 
angry  clouds,  that  seemed,  with  magic  quickness,  to  have 
been  gathered  from  every  part  of  the  horizon  to  a  point 
directly  over  head.  In  another  moment,  the  black  convolv 
ing  mass  burst  downward,  and  fell,  in  hurricane  blasts,  upon 
the  lake ;  converting  at  once  its  mirror-like  surface  into  a 
wild  waste  of  tumbling,  breaking,  and  raging  billows,  upon, 
which  the  frail  little  bark  of  his  fair  friend  —  by  this  time 
almost  within  reach  of  his  hand,  now  eagerly  extended  to 
grasp  it  as  it  came  —  began  to  pitch  and  whirl  with  a  vio 
lence  that  threatened  instant  destruction.  Now  it  was  borne 
off  on  the  eddying  surges,  and  lost  to  his  sight  in  the  clouds 
of  wind-driven  mists  and  mingling  atoms,  that  were  sweeping 
over  the  face  of  the  agitated  waters.  Now  again  it  appeared 
on  the  refluent  billows,  and  again  it  was  lost.  Once  more  it 
was  revealed  to  the  eager  and  strained  vision  of  the  dis 
tressed  lover ;  but  it  appeared  now  only  to  complete  his 
despair.  It  was  foundering  amidst  the  raging  waves ;  and  its 
lovely  freight,  with  an  imploring  look,  was  stretching  forth 
towards  him  her  arms  for  aid.  With  a  cry  of  agony,  he 
plunged  into  the  angry  flood  for  the  rescue,  and  awoke  — 
awoke,  and  thanked  Heaven  that  it  was  but  a  dream.  But, 
although  the  illusion  was  dissipated,  and  the  particular  excite 
ment  it  had  caused  soon  allayed,  the  same  feelings  with  which 
he  fell  asleep,  the  same  boding,  undefined  solicitude  which  had 
attended,  and  probably  given  character  to  all  his  dreams,  still 
continued  to  haunt  and  disturb  him.  The  feeling  grew  even 
more  painfully  oppressive,  and,  after  trying  awhile  in  vain  to 
sleep,  he  arose,  lighted  a  lamp,  and  dressed  himself.  He  con- 
18* 


210  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

suited  his  watch,  and  found  it  past  midnight.  He  listened  for 
some  sounds  from  without ;  but  all,  for  a  while,  seemed  hush 
ed  in  repose.  The  silence,  however,  was  at  length  broken  by 
the  noise  of  heavily -rolling  wheels  and  the  splashing  of  horses' 
feet,  proceeding,  as  he  soon  concluded,  from  the  southern 
stage,  which,  owing  to  the  bad  travelling,  had  but  just  arrived, 
and  was  now  passing  on  its  way  to  the  post-oifice  or  stage- 
house,  at  the  other  end  of  the  village.  As  these  sounds  re 
ceded,  he  turned  from  them  with  indifference  ;  for  they  were 
not  those  which  he  seemed  to  have  expected.  But  what  did 
he  expect  ?  He  knew  not ;  and  yet  he  felt  a  strange  con 
sciousness  that  something  unusual  was  about  to  happen.  And 
in  obedience  to  an  impulse  which  now  seized  him,  he  took 
his  hat,  descended  to  the  door,  and  gained  the  street,  without 
being  able  to  tell  why  he  did  so,  or  where  lie  was  going.  As 
he  stood  hesitating,  a  distant  voice,  in  the  earnest  tones  of 
one  calling  for  aid,  reached  his  ears ;  he  sprang  round  a  cor 
ner,  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  and  the  next  instant  heard 
repeated,  by  a  nearer  and  more  startling  voice,  the  appalling 
cry  of  fire  !  "  Carter's  house  is  on  fire,  and  the  family  per 
ishing  in  the  flames  !  "  Heeding  not  the  inquiries  that  now 
assailed  his  ears  amidst  the  creaking  of  the  opening  doors, 
or  hastily-raised  window-sashes  of  almost  every  house  around 
him,  Amsden  bounded  forward  by  the  lurid  light  that  now  be 
gan  to  glimmer  along  the  street,  with  the  speed  of  the  wind, 
towards  the  spot  indicated  by  this  awful  and,  to  him,  agoniz 
ing  announcement.  The  turn  of  another  corner  brought  the 
eagerly-sought  building  into  plain  view.  It  was  completely 
enveloped  in  one  black,  eddying  cloud  of  swiftly-mounting 
smoke,  through  which  the  flickering  flames  began  fiercely  to 
gleam,  as  they  burst  successively  from  the  windows  along  the 
lower  story.  The  domestics,  who  slept  in  this  part  of  the 
house,  had  just  escaped.  At  that  instant,  a  window  was 
dashed  out  from  the  second  story ;  and  Mr.  Carter,  his  wife, 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  211 

and  daughters,  were  heard  shouting  and  screaming  for  aid. 
Arousing  the  stupefied  servants,  Amsden,  by  their  aid,  and 
that  of  one  or  two  others,  who  by  this  time  had  reached  the 
spot,  procured  a  ladder,  and  placed  it  to  the  window  from 
which  the  cries  had  been  heard ;  when,  one  by  one,  the  fam 
ily  were  seen  emerging,  half-suffocated,  from  the  thick  smoke 
that  enveloped  the  upper  part  of  the  ladder,  and  hastily  des 
cending  to  the  ground ;  the  last  one  having  barely  time  to 
avoid  the  broad  gush  of  flames  that  now  burst  from  the  win 
dow  below,  and  cut  off  all  further  chance  of  egress  by  the 
avenue  through  which  they  had  so  narrowly  escaped.  Stand 
ing  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and  eagerly  examining  the  dis 
figured  persons  of  each  of  the  females,  as  they  came  down, 
Amsden  uttered  an  exclamation  of  despair,  on  finding,  as  the 
last  one  reached  the  ground,  that  she  whom  he  most  anx 
iously  sought  was  not  there  ! 

"  Where  is  Mary  ?  O  !  where  is  Mary  ?  "  burst  from  his 
agonized  lips,  as  he  cast  a  wild  and  frenzied  look  on  those 
around  him. 

"  Yes,  where  ?  "  responded  Carter,  throwing  a  startled  and 
agitated  look  upon  his  wife  and  daughters,  as  he  now  for  the 
first  time  discovered  that  the  object  of  inquiry  was  not  among 
them. 

"  She  ran  back  to  add  another  article  to  her  scant  dress, 
just  as  the  ladder  was  raised  for  our  escape,"  now  recollected 
one  of  the  females. 

"  Her  retreat  then  was  cut  off  by  the  flames,"  said  the  for 
mer  ;  "  mount  at  some  other  place  and  find  her,  or  in  another 
moment  she  is  lost !  " 

Waiting  only  to  catch  the  import  of  these  replies  to  his 
question,  the  maddened  youth  flew  to  the  ladder,  planted  it 
against  another  window,  sprang  up  the  rounds,  and  with  a 
billet  of  wood  before  caught  up  for  the  purpose,  cleared  both 
sash  and  glass  at  a  blow,  and  leaped  in,  to  rescue  his  perilled 


212  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

friend,  or  perish  with  her.  While  this  was  transpiring,  a 
well-dressed  gentleman,  whom  no  one  appeared  to  recognize, 
came  rushing,  with  distracted  looks,  through  the  crowd.  He 
had  evidently  been  apprised,  on  the  way,  of  the  peril  and 
probable  situation  of  the  lady  left  in  the  burning  building ; 
for,  calling  aloud  for  assistance,  he  seized  a  spare  ladder,  and, 
with  such  help  as  was  at  hand,  bore  it  round  to  an  opposite 
side  of  the  house,  reared  it,  ascended,  beat  in  a  window,  and 
quickly  disappeared  in  the  smoke  that  came  pouring  through 
the  breach  he  had  thus  effected.  For  many  minutes,  nothing 
was  seen  or  heard  of  the  two  individuals  who  had  thus 
bravely  hazarded  their  lives  in  the  search.  And  as  the  fire, 
which  had  commenced  on  the  lower  floor,  was  plainly  seen 
to  be  rapidly  making  its  way  upward,  the  spectators,  now 
equally  alarmed  for  the  fate  of  all  within,  awaited,  with 
breathless  anxiety,  for  their  reappearance.  Suddenly,  the 
crash  of  a  breaking  window,  in  a  different  room  from  those 
which  either  of  the  two  bold  adventurers  had  entered,  was 
heard  ;  and  they  Avere  seen,  in  the  flying  fragments  and  out 
pouring  smoke,  throwing  themselves  headlong  through  the 
opening,  to  the  ground.  They  had  rushed  through  the  half- 
fired  chambers  in  the  fruitless  search  for  the  supposed  perish 
ing  girl,  till,  their  retreat  being  cut  off,  they  met,  nearly 
suffocated  by  the  vapor,  and  took  the  only  course  left  them 
to  save  their  lives.  The  stranger,  though  not  materially  in 
jured  by  the  fall,  was  yet  so  much  stunned,  that  he  was  taken 
up  and  borne  off  nearly  senseless,  out  of  the  crowd.  Ams- 
den  almost  instantly  gained  his  feet,  and  rushed,  convulsed 
and  gasping  for  breath,  out  of  the  stifling  smoke  and  heat 
that  encircled  the  spot,  into  the  fresh  air.  The  eyes  of  all 
followed  him,  and  many  gathered  round  to  hear  if  he  brought 
hope  or  information  on  the  subject  of  the  general  solicitude. 
He  did  not,  could  not,  utter  words ;  but  his  woe-speaking 
countenance,  as  he  looked  upon  the  burning  pile,  and  turned 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  213 

hopelessly  away  from  the  overpowering  sight,  told  the  sad  tale 
that  his  tongue  would  have  uttered.  And  the  next  moment 
brought  confirmation,  to  the  minds  of  all,  of  the  dreadful  sup 
position.  A  general  burst  of  flames  through  every  window 
below  the  roof  of  the  building,  disclosed  the  whole  interior 
in  a  mass  of  flames,  glowing  with  the  bright  heat  of  a  fur 
nace.  "  She  is  lost !  she  is  lost !"  now  rose,  in  the  low,  deep 
murmurs  of  grief,  from  the  shuddering  throng,  who  stood 
appalled  at  the  thought  of  a  fate  so  awful,  for  one  so  good,  so 
loved,  and  so  lovely.  With  the  subsidence  of  this  burst  of 
anguished  sensibilities,  a  funereal  silence  for  some  moments 
pervaded  the  whole  assembled  multitude.  The  tumultuous 
shouts  and  varied  commotion  that  had  marked  the  scene, 
seemed  hushed  into  awe ;  and  nought  was  heard  but  the 
ceaseless  crackling  of  consuming  timbers,  and  the  dull,  far- 
sounding  roar  of  the  mounting  flames.  The  gloomy  silence, 
however,  was  soon  broken  by  a  cry  of  mingled  joy  and  hor 
ror  which  now  arose  from  a  new  and  unexpected  spectacle. 
She,  whom  all  had  given  up  as  lost,  was  discovered,  emerg 
ing  from  the  scuttle,  on  to  the  nearly  flat  roof  of  the  building, 
and  advancing,  with  hasty,  agitated  steps,  to  the  low  terrace 
that  ran  round  it  at  the  eaves.  Here,  in  the  occasional  open 
ings  of  the  eddying  smoke  that  was  swiftly  whirling  over 
and  around  her,  she  was  seen,  looking  hopelessly  down  from 
the  dizzy  height,  upon  the  anxious  throng  of  friends  below, 
who  saw  no  way  to  rescue  her  from  the  fiery  tomb,  in  which 
the  already  trembling  fabric  gave  token  she  must  soon  be 
engulfed.  In  a  moment  she  appeared  to  single  out  her  dis 
tressed  lover  from  the  crowd ;  and  she  stretched  forth  her 
arms  towards  him,  with  the  same  imploring  look  with  which 
he  had  seen  her  in  his  dream.  Aroused  by  the  mute  appeal 
from  the  stupor  with  which  his  overmastering  emotions  had 
chained  him  to  the  spot  where  he  stood,  at  the  thrilling  sight 
that  had  been  so  unexpectedly  revealed,  Amsden  sprang  for- 


214  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OK 

ward  to  the  very  verge  of  the  flames,  and,  calling  aloud  for 
assistance,  looked  distractedly  round  for  some  means  by 
which  she  might  yet  be  snatched  from  the  fearful  doom  that 
hung  over  her.  But  how  was  any  effectual  assistance  to  be 
rendered  ?  The  body  of  the  building,  which  was  isolated 
from  all  others,  was  now  but  a  bright  mass  of  fire  ;  while  the 
whole  compass  of  its  exterior,  on  every  side,  from  the  base 
nearly  to  the  eaves,  was  wrapped  by  the  flashing  gusts  of  the 
same  fearful  element.  There  was  no  ladder  to  be  had  long 
enough  to  reach  the  roof,  or  near  it,  if  placed  at  an  inclina 
tion  in  which  it  would  be  out  of  reach  of  the  flames.  Other 
expedients  were,  indeed,  hastily  suggested ;  but  each  in  its 
turn,  was  quickly  rejected,  as  wholly  fruitless.  And  the 
seemingly  fated  girl  was  again  about  to  be  given  up  as  beyond 
the  reach  of  all  human  assistance,  when  an  encouraging 
shout,  as  of  approaching  aid,  was  raised  by  those  standing  in 
the  outer  circles  of  the  crowd.  Eager  to  grasp  at  every  ap 
pearance  of  hope,  Amsden  turned  his  eyes  to  the  quarter 
from  which  the  sounds  proceeded,  and  beheld  a  small  party 
rapidly  approaching,  with  a  long  spliced  ladder  on  their 
shoulders.  As  they  drew  near,  the  former  unexpectedly  re 
cognized,  in  the  burly  frame  and  energetic  manner  of  the 
foremost,  his  old  friend  Bunker,  who,  it  appeared,  having 
been  aroused  by  the  alarm  from  an  inn  nearly  two  miles 
distant,  reached  by  him  on  a  journey,  a  few  hours  before,  had 
arrived  just  as  the  present  emergency  arose,  and,  with  a 
quick  glance  at  the  means  of  relief,  ran  back  to  a  neighboring 
barn,  where  he  procured,  and  hastily  lashed  together,  the  im 
plements  with  which  he  and  others  were  now  rushing  forward 
to  the  rescue. 

"  Be  ready  there  with  pike-poles  and  pitch-forks  to  raise 
it,"  he  exclaimed  to  the  receding  throng,  as  with  long,  rapid 
strides  he  came  sweeping  with  his  end  of  the  load  to  the 
spot,  "  She  may  be  saved  !  Now  up  with  this  ladder  ;  and 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  215 

lio !  there,  you  firemen !  bring  round  your  engine  to  bear 
on  this  side  of  the  building  to  deaden  the  flames !  What ! 
can  you  neither  think  nor  act?  I  tell  you  she  must  be 
saved ! " 

With  that  sort  of  half-mechanical  obedience  which  supe 
rior  energy  and  promptitude  will  always  command,  in  a  crisis 
of  difficulty  and  danger,  the  before  uncertain  and  paralyzed 
crowd,  now  aroused  by  the  startling  and  authoritative  tones 
of  the  speaker,  began  to  move  with  alacrity  to  do  his  bidding. 
While  the  fire-engine,  soon  adjusted  for  the  purpose,  was 
pouring  its  torrents  upon  the  space  of  flames  immediately 
required  to  be  held  in  check,  the  tall  ladder  was  hurled  into 
the  air,  and  carefully  lowered,  till  its  upper  end  was  brought 
on  to  the  roof,  almost  at  the  feet  of  the  perilled  maiden. 

"  Now,  young  lady,"  shouted  Bunker,  in  a  voice  that  rose 
distinct  above  the  noise  of  the  multitude  and  the  roaring  of 
the  flames,  "  if  you  have  a  head  and  hand  steady  enough, 
come  down  ;  for  you  have  not  a  moment  to  lose  ! " 

Evidently  understanding  the  words  that  had  been  thus  ad 
dressed  her,  the  agitated  girl  instantly  advanced,  and  step 
ping  over  the  verge  of  the  dizzy  pinnacle,  placed  her  foot 
upon  one  of  the  first  rounds  of  the  ladder  —  when,  at  the 
sensation  which  appeared  to  come  over  her,  as  she  glanced 
down  from  the  fearful  height  to  the  earth,  partially  disclosed 
to  her  recoiling  senses  in  the  disrupturing  clouds  of  smoke 
and  flame  that  were  seething  and  raging  beneath  her,  she 
suddenly  stopped,  put  her  hand  to  her  head,  and,  with  a 
shudder,  sunk  back  unnerved  and  prostrate  upon  the  roof. 

"  May  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  her  ! "  cried  Bunker,  in 
tones  of  distress.  "  She  lias  not  the  nerve  to  do  it,  poor 
thing !  And  this  ladder  may  give  way  under  the  weight  of 
two.  But  I  cannot  stand  and  see  her  die  so.  No,  it  must 
be  tried,"  he  added,  turning  to  those  around  him,  and  prepar- 


216  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

ing  to  mount  himself.  "  So,  under  there  with  your  longest 
poles  to  sustain  and  steady  the  ladder,  as  well  as  you  can 
when  we  come  down  ;  for  I  will  save  her  or  go  with  her." 

He  was  anticipated,  however,  in  his  intended  ascent. 
Amsden,  who  had  stood  by,  watching  every  movement  with 
an  intenseness  of  anxiety  that  had  deprived  him  of  the  power 
of  utterance,  now  rushed  past  his  brave  old  friend,  and,  with 
a  look  of  mute  desperation,  rapidly  mounted  the  ladder,  and 
soon  disappeared  in  the  smoke,  on  his  perilous  destination. 
The  eyes  of  all  were  now  turned  upwards,  with  intense 
and  eager  gaze,  to  the  vapor-screened  roof,  as  they  stood 
awaiting,  in  silent  and  trembling  suspense,  the  result  of  the 
last  effort  which  they  felt  could  be  made  to  snatch  the  luck 
less  girl  from  her  doom.  But  more  than  a  minute  elapsed 
before  their  senses  were  greeted  by  either  sight  or  sound 
from  the  objects  of  their  common  anxiety ;  when  "  They 
come  !  they  come  !  "  burst  from  a  distant  part  of  the  crowd. 
And  the  next  instant  the  heroic  young  man  was  seen  by  all, 
sliding  slowly  and  cautiously  from  round  to  round,  down  the 
ladder,  with  one  arm  firmly  grasping  his  lovely  burden,  as 
she  lay  shudderingly  clinging  to  his  bosom,  and  the  other 
employed  in  aiding  his  difficult  and  dangerous  progress. 
The  first  fifteen  feet  of  their  descent  was  luckily  accomplish 
ed  without  disaster  or  alarm.  And  this  brought  them  so  far 
out  of  the  upward  current  of  smoke  and  heat,  that  they  now 
could  breathe  with  comparative  freedom.  But  the  most  per 
ilous  part  of  their  passage  still  remained.  And  this  became 
so  frightfully  manifest  by  the  bending  and  cracking  of  the 
frail  implement,  as  they  approached  the  middle,  that  it  was 
apparent  the  over-strained  sides  were  about  to  give  way, 
and  precipitate  them  to  the  earth  beneath  or  hurl  them  back 
among  the  blazing  ruins  of  the  tottering  fabric  from  which 
they  had  so  far  escaped. 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  217 

"  Hold !  hold  there,  above,  or  you  are  lost ! "  shouted 
Bunker,  from  beneath  the  ladder,  as  he  and  others  were 
endeavoring  to  support  it  with  their  poles. 

A  moment  of  awful  suspense  followed.  But  while  all 
others  seemed  to  be  deprived  of  the  power  of  thought  and 
action,  by  the  awful  spectacle  of  two  human  beings  suspend 
ed,  as  if  by  a  hair,  over  certain  destruction,  the  coolness  and 
presence  of  mind  of  the  man  who  had  already  effected  so 
much  were  again  conspicuous.  Casting  an  uneasy  and  hur 
ried  glance  around  for  some  means  of  averting  the  fearfully 
pressing  evil,  his  eye  fell  upon  an  old  carriage,  standing  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  yard.  This,  by  the  loud  and  rapid  orders 
which  he  then  instantly  gave,  as  he  still  stood,  straining 
every  nerve,  at  his  post,  was  hastily  rolled  forward,  and  run 
so  far  within  the  line  of  the  fire  beneath  the  ladder,  that  it 
at  once  became  nearly  enveloped  in  the  flames.  Then  call 
ing  on  the  firemen  to  turn  their  engine  full  upon  himself,  he 
mounted  the  top  of  the  carriage  with  his  pike-pole ;  and, 
while  a  drenching  column  of  water  was  pouring  directly 
upon  his  person,  he  soon  gained  a  hold  upon  the  ladder 
above,  at  so  high  a  point  as  to  secure  it  from  any  further 
danger  of  giving  way,  so  long  as  he  could  remain  in  the  haz 
ardous  and  nearly  insupportable  position  in  which  he  had 
thus  placed  himself. 

"  Now  be  on  the  move  there,  above  !  "  he  exclaimed,  in 
tones  which  plainly  told  what  his  effort  was  costing  him. 
"  The  house  is  on  the  point  of  falling  in ;  and,  for  your  own 
sakes  as  well  as  mine,  I  warn  you  to  be  lively  ! " 

Before  these  ominous  words  were  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
speaker,  Amsden,  who  had  remained,  in  the  mean  time,  sta 
tionary  on  his  weak  and  failing  support,  without  stirring  a 
muscle,  was  rapidly  gliding  downward,  with  his  still  unin 
jured  charge.  In  a  moment  the  point  of  danger  was  passed. 
In  another,  Bunker  was  seen  leaping  from  his  stand  to  avoid 
19 


218  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

the  falling  ladder,  which,  with  the  crashing  roof  above,  now 
came  down  in  a  blazing  mass  together.  But  the  irrepressible 
shout  of  joyful  exultation  that  the  next  instant  burst  from  the 
assembled  multitude  proclaimed  to  the  ringing  welkin  around, 
that  both  the  delivered  and  the  deliverer  were  standing  upon 
the  earth  in  safety. 

At  that  moment,  a  gentleman,  hastily  making  his  way 
through  the  crowd,  rushed  up  to  the  rescued  party,  exclaim 
ing,  "  My  daughter  !  my  daughter  !  "  and,  clasping  the  bewil 
dered  girl  in  his  arms,  and  murmuring  an  ejaculation  of 
thanks  to  Heaven  for  her  deliverance,  he  led  her  away  from 
the  spot. 

Amsden  cast  a  surprised  and  inquiring  look  at  the  person 
who  had  thus  unexpectedly  appeared  with  the  claims  implied 
by  the  exclamations  just  uttered,  when  he  recognized,  in  his 
general  appearance,  the  stranger  with  whom  he  had  so 
nearly  perished  in  the  burning  house.  But  the  condition  in 
which  he  now  found  himself  precluded  all  further  thought  or 
inquiry  on  the  subject.  A  strange,  giddy,  and  sickening  sen 
sation  came  over  him;  and,  staggering,  and  grasping  for 
something  to  support  him,  he  was  caught  by  Bunker,  who 
immediately  conveyed  him,  sick  and  helpless,  to  his  lodgings. 
The  unwonted  exertions,  and  the  fearful  excitement  of  the 
night,  had  been  too  much  for  his  already  debilitated  system ; 
and  his  failing  strength  and  overtasked  nerves  had  given 
way  together.  He  rapidly  grew  worse,  and,  before  morning, 
was  delirious  with  a  raging  fever. 

O !  who  can  follow  the  here  confused  and  tangled  thread 
of  the  sufferer's  intellectual  existence  ?  Ay,  who  can  give 
an  adequate  description  of  the  aimless  operations  of  a  mind 
unsettled  by  disease  —  the  dark  and  ceaseless  turmoil  of 
ever-changing,  yet  ever-recurring  images  —  the  vague,  fleet 
ing,  mysterious,  half-formed  shapes,  that  are  constantly  rising 
on  the  troubled  vision,  passing  through  a  thousand  rapid  and 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  219 

startling  mutations,  and  sinking  away  to  make  room  for  oth 
ers,  seemingly  different,  yet  felt  to  be  the  same  —  the  haunt 
ing,  hurrying,  impelling  consciousness  of  objects  to  be  sought, 
but  never  obtained,  and  the  deep  and  distressing  sense  of 
perplexity  and  helpless  wretchedness  that  continues  through 
the  whole  oppressively  to  brood  over  the  distracted  mind  ? 
Who,  we  repeat,  can  describe  operations  like  these  ?  No 
one.  No  pen,  though  guided  by  one  who  speaks  from  expe 
rience,  can  draw  a  picture  bearing  even  the  stamp  of  resem 
blance  ;  and  yet  every  one  who  thus  speaks,  feels  that,  while 
in  that  state,  he  was  conscious  of  the  passing  of  incidents 
enough  to  compose  the  varying  scenes  of  a  whole  life. 

For  more  than  a  fortnight,  in  despite  of  the  daily,  and  often 
hourly  attendance  of  the  assiduous  and  skilful  Lincoln,  and 
the  unwearied  ministering  of  the  kindest  of  friends,  lay 
Locke  Amsden ;  his  prostrate  body  the  helpless  and  almost 
hopeless  prey  of  disease,  and  his  sympathizing  mind  the 
sport  of  those  troublous  and  distressing  fantasies  of  the  fever 
ed  brain,  which  we  can  name  as  such,  but  never  describe. 
The  taper  of  life,  however,  though  often  seeming  but  to  flicker 
in  its  socket,  continued  to  burn  on ;  and,  at  length,  nature 
began  slowly  to  rally,  and  the  invading  enemy  to  retire  from 
the  long-disputed  field  of  contest. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  the  third  week  from  the  night 
which  proved  so  eventful  to  the  leading  personages  of  our 
story,  that  Amsden,  after  several  hours  of  calm  and  refresh 
ing  slumbers,  awoke  in  full  possession  of  his  reason. 

"  What  a  long,  long,  troubled  dream  !  "  at  length  he  faint 
ly  uttered. 

A  slight  rustling  in  the  room  now  attracted  his  attention  ; 
and,  turning  his  head,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  female  fig 
ure,  quietly  gliding  out  through  the  door.  In  a  moment 
more  the  door  was  reopened,  when  a  matronly -looking  wo- 


220  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

man  entered,  and,  approaching  the  bedside  of  the  evidently 
surprised  invalid,  gently  asked,  — 

"  Locke,  do  you  know  me  ?  Ay,  you  do  now,  do  n't  you, 
my  son  ?  " 

"  My  mother  —  but  how  came  you  here  ?  " 

"  I  came  nearly  ten  days  ago,  to  nurse  you,  Locke.  You 
have  been  very  sick,  though  for  the  last  two  days  you  have 
grown  much  better ;  and  you  would  have  known  me  before, 
probably,  had  we  thought  it  best  to  arouse  you  so  thoroughly 
from  your  sleep  as  we  might  have  done." 

"  Then  my  mind  has  been  wandering  the  whole  time,  I 
suppose  —  perhaps  it  is  all  a  dream.  When  you  came  in,  I 
was  trying  to  recall,  and  to  distinguish  what  might  be  reality 
from  what  was  not." 

"  It  may  be  you  are  mingling  reality  and  your  disordered 
fancies  together.  People  will  do  so,  on  coming  to  their  rea 
son,  it  is  said.  But  what  do  you  allude  to,  in  particular  ?  " 

"  The  burning  of  Carter's  house,  —  our  escape,  —  and  then 
a  great  many  other  confused  scenes,  which  I  thought  at  first 
I  could  recall." 

"  The  house  you  name  was  indeed  burnt ;  and  the  same 
kind  Providence  that  has  preserved  you  through  this  distress 
ing  sickness,  permitted  you,  and  all  that  were  endangered,  to 
escape  from  the  dreadful  element.  It  must  have  been  an 
awful  scene.  It  made  me  shudder  to  hear  Captain  Bunker 
describe  it." 

"  Captain  Bunker  ?  Did  he  remain  Avith  me  till  you  ar 
rived." 

"  Why,  he  came  after  me,  my  son,  brought  me  here,  and 
continued  with  us  several  days  afterwards,  watching  over  you 
with  all  the  seeming  anxiety  of  a  parent.  And,  on  taking 
his  leave,  and  looking  on  you,  as  he  believed,  for  the  last 
time,  it  was  a  moving  sight  to  see  that  strong  man  weep." 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  221 

The  patient  now,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  careful  nurse, 
refrained  from  further  conversation,  took  some  nourishment, 
and  soon  fell  again  into  gentle  slumber,  from  which,  at  the 
end  of  an  hour  or  two,  he  awoke,  much  refreshed,  and  evi 
dently  less  feeble  than  before. 

"  Mother,"  he  said,  after  lying  awhile  in  thoughtful  silence, 
"mother,  who  was  that  lady  that  left  the  room  just  before 
you  entered,  the  first  time  I  awoke  to  know  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  was  Miss  Maverick,"  replied  the  other,  hesitat 
ingly,  as  she  cast  a  surprised  and  rather  searching  look  at 
the  countenance  of  her  son.  "  She  has  been  here  almost 
every  day  since  I  came  ;  and  so,  indeed,  has  her  father,  who 
expresses  —  " 

"  Her  father  ?  "  interrupted  Locke  ;  (:  0  —  why,  I  now 
recollect.  Then  that  was  in  truth  her  father,  whom  all  sup 
posed  dead  ?  He  arrived  the  evening  before  the  fire,  I 
presume  ?  " 

"  No :  he  arrived  in  the  belated  stage,  I  understood,  about 
the  time  the  alarm,  was  given,  and,  hurrying  to  the  spot, 
rushed  into  the  building,  where  he  heard,  as  he  drew  near, 
his  daughter  was  left  to  perish.  The  rest  you  remember,  I 
suppose." 

"  I  do  now  ;  but  where  has  the  Colonel  been,  these  many 
years,  that  nothing  should  have  been  heard  from  him  ?  " 

"  In  Brazil,  South  America,  I  think  Mary  told  me, 
where  the  country  was  in  such  commotion  that  his  letters 
miscarried.  He  was  at  first  made  a  prisoner,  and  carried 
into  the  country,  when,  effecting  his  escape,  he  was  drawn 
into  the  wars,  became  an  officer,  and  acquired  wealth  from 
his  pay,  and  the  services  he  rendered  some  rich  Spanish 
families,  in  saving  their  lives  and  estates.  He  came  away, 
he  says,  as  soon  as  he  could  turn  his  property,  and  get  out  of 
the  country  with  his  money,  which  he  has  brought  home 
with  him,  to  a  large  amount,  it  is  generally  thought.  And  it 
19* 


222  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

certainly  seems  like  it ;  for  he  immediately  bought  back,  of 
the  agent  of  his  old  creditors,  the  beautiful  house  and  farm 
he  formerly  owned,  and  has  already  moved  into  it.  He  has 
also  very  generously  bought  another  comfortable  house  for 
the  Carter  family." 

"  Indeed  !  but  why  should  he  do  that,  mother  ?  Mr.  Car 
ter,  notwithstanding  the  loss  of  his  house  and  furniture,  must 
have  been  abundantly  able  to  purchase  another,  himself." 

"  Why,  did  n't  you  know  —  but  of  course  you  could  not  — 
that  Carter  had  failed  ?  " 

"  You  surprise  me,  mother." 

"  Yes,  he  has  totally  failed.  And  it  is  now  said  he  has 
been  a  bankrupt  for  some  time,  though  most  people  supposed 
there  was  scarcely  an  end  to  his  wealth.  His  losses  by  the 
fire  in  some  way  brought  his  true  situation  to  light.  His 
creditors  —  and  it  was  found  that,  besides  his  immense  city 
debts,  he  owed  almost  every  body  here — his  creditors  struck 
on  him  a  few  days  after,  stripping  him  of  every  thing  that  the 
fire  had  left ;  and  he  is  now  a  poor  man,  owing  thousands,  it 
is  said,  which  he  can  never  pay,  and  still  having  the  same 
•unprofitable  and  helpless  family  on  his  hands,  whose  extrav 
agant  habits  have  been  the  chief  means  of  his  ruin.  Every 
body  pities  him,  but  nobody  his  wife  and  daughters." 

"  What  a  striking  concurrence  of  events  has  been  here  !  " 
observed  Locke,  thoughtfully  ;  "  and  what  a  strange  reversal 
of  fortunes  has  a  few  days  brought  about  between  the  de 
pendent,  and  I  fear  misused,  Mary  Maverick,  and  the  vain 
and  haughty  Carters  !  Well,  Mary,  I  suppose,  is  considered 
a  wealthy  heiress  now,"  he  added,  with  a  sigh. 

"  She  may  be,  and  justly,  too,  I  presume,"  rejoined  the 
mother,  seeming  instinctively  to  comprehend  what  was  passing 
in  her  son's  mind  ;  "  she  may  be  thought  so,  and  really  be 
so  ;  but  let  me  tell  you,  that,  although  the  Carters  are  hum 
bled,  she  is  not  exalted.  O  Locke ! "  she  continued,  with 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  223 

earnestness  and  rising  emotion,  "  I  cannot  express  how  much 
I  think  of  that  good,  good  girl !  But  I  am  wrong  to  lead 
you  to  such  agitating  subjects,"  she  added,  suddenly  checking 
herself,  as  she  glanced  at  the  other,  and  saw  him  grasping 
for  a  handkerchief  to  conceal  his  starting  tears.  "  We  will 
converse  no  more  now ;  and  in  a  few  days  you  will  be  out,  I 
hope,  to  see  and  judge  about  all  these  things  for  yourself." 

Amsden  possessed  a  sound  and  vigorous  constitution ;  and 
so  rapid  was  his  recovery,  that,  in  one  week  from  the  time  at 
which  the  delirium  left  him,  he  was  able  to  leave  the  house. 
During  the  whole  period  of  his  convalescence,  he  had  seen 
nothing  of  Colonel  Maverick  or  his  daughter ;  the  former 
having  recently  become  too  much  indisposed  to  appear  abroad, 
and  the  latter  making  that  circumstance  an  excuse  for  the  sud 
den  discontinuance  of  those  calls  which  were  so  frequently 
repeated  so  long  as  her  friend  was  considered  in  danger. 
These  facts  Amsden  learned  from  Dr.  Lincoln,  who,  grace 
fully  sinking  the  physician  into  the  companionable  friend, 
still  continued  his  daily  visits.  And  the  former  was  the 
more  concerned  at  the  information  thus  obtained,  as  the  doc 
tor  began  to  express  some  apprehensions,  that  the  colonel's 
indisposition,  though  appearing  like  an  ordinary  cold  merely, 
was  the  effect  of  a  permanent  injury  to  his  lungs,  which  he 
might  have  received  from  the  smoke  and  heat  encountered 
at  the  fire,  and  which,  though  but  slightly  developing  itself 
at  first,  might  yet  assume  a  serious  aspect.  But  although 
Colonel  Maverick  for  the  reasons  just  named,  and  his  daugh 
ter  for  those  she  had  assigned,  or  others  which  we  will  not 
be  very  particular  in  scrutinizing,  had  not  called  on  the  re 
covering  invalid,  yet  they  took  means  to  apprise  him  that 
he  was  not  forgotten.  A  freshly-installed  domestic  of  the 
new  family  establishment  now  regularly  made  his  appearance 
every  morning  to  inquire  after  Mr.  Amsden's  health.  And, 
before  the  latter  was  permitted  to  leave  his  room,  he  received 


224  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

a  note  from  the  colonel  himself,  insisting  on  a  visit  as  soon  as 
his  health  would  possibly  allow.  There  was  a  roguish  post 
script  to  the  note,  in  another  hand,  which  made  it  none  the 
less  welcome  to  the  receiver. 

The  season  of  the  violet  and  the  opening  leaf  had  come  ; 
and  the  spring-tide  of  returning  health,  as  if  responsive  to 
the  action  of  reviving  nature,  now  everywhere  bursting  into 
young  life  around,  began  to  mount,  and  course  with  quickened 
impulse  in  the  veins  of  him  who  was  so  lately  the  pale  and 
helpless  victim  of  disease,  bringing  with  it  that  peculiar 
buoyancy  of  spirits,  that  sort  of  spontaneous  joyousness  of 
animal  sensation,  which  is  experienced  only  by  those  recov 
ering  from  long  and  wasting  sickness. 

And  throwing  aside  the  loathed  habiliments  of  the  sick 
chamber,  and  spurning  the  further  restrictions  of  prescribed 
diet,  and  confinement  within,  he  now  came  forth  from  his 
prison-house,  rejoicing  in  the  conscious  glow  of  physical 
regeneration,  and  seemingly  sucking  in  happiness  at  every 
grateful  inhalation  of  the  open  air.  Finding  himself  daily 
revived  and  strengthened,  instead  of  harmed,  by  the  exercise 
of  his  new-found  privilege  of  wandering  abroad,  he  set  out, 
on  the  first  pleasant  afternoon  that  occurred  after  his  release, 
for  the  charmed  residence  of  the  two  beings  who  not  only 
for  years  before  had  occupied  the  conspicuous  place  in  his 
mind,  but  who  now  seemed  the  centering  points  to  which  his 
every  thought  and  inclination  irresistibly  tended. 

On  arriving  at  the  gate,  he  could  not  but  pause  a  moment, 
to  admire  the  neat  and  effective  arrangement  of  the  sur 
rounding  grounds,  the  ornamental  trees,  and  every  thing 
connected  with  this  beautiful  establishment,  all  of  which 
seemed  to  have  remained  in  the  form  originally  laid  out  by 
the  tasteful  owner.  He  then  glanced  within  the  enclosure, 
in  the  thickly  budding  shrubbery  of  which  the  not  large,  but 
elegantly  constructed  mansion  was  nearly  embowered  ;  when 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  225 

he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  female  figure,  which  a  second 
glance  told  him  was  Mary,  unobservantly  bending,  with  busy 
and  fostering  hand,  over  her  geraniums  and  violets, 

"  Herself  the  sweetest,  fairest  flower  of  all." 

With  a  beating  heart  and  tremulous  hand,  he  opened  the 
gate  and  entered.  The  next  instant  she  came  bounding  to  his 
side  with  the  graceful  lightness  of  the  young  fawn  ;  and,  with 
an  extended  hand,  and  a  countenance  all  eloquent  with 
blending  smiles  and  blushes,  exclaimed, 

"  O  Mr.  Amsden,  Mr.  Amsden !  how  happy  am  I  to  see 
you  looking  so  well  —  and  how  gratified  to  see  you  here  — 
here,  where  I  can  welcome  you  to  a  house  of  my  own,  —  or 
rather,  and  what  is  better,  to  the  house  of  a  father,  —  who 
will  be  no  less  pleased  to  see  you  than  myself.  Come,  come, 
let  me  lead  you  to  his  room." 

The  joyous  girl  immediately  ushered  her  friend  and  late 
deliverer  into  the  house  and  apartment  where  her  father 
was  setting.  As  they  entered,  Colonel  Maverick,  who  was 
reclining  on  a  sofa  with  a  newspaper  in  his  hand,  instantly 
rose,  and  greeted  Amsden  with  a  warmth  and  cordiality 
which  abundantly  made  good  the  assurance  that  his  daughter 
had  just  uttered.  The  colonel,  though  thin  and  sallow,  from 
the  effects  of  his  long  residence  in  a  tropical  climate,  and 
though  troubled  with  a  bad  cough,  to  remove  which,  he  was 
now  confining  himself  within,  under  a  course  of  medical 
treatment,  appeared  so  much  better  than  his  visiter  expected, 
that  the  latter  soon  forgot  the  apprehensions  which  Dr.  Lin 
coln  had  excited,  relative  to  the  situation  of  the  former,  and 
gave  himself  up  to  the  delights  of  a  conversation  which  now 
ensued  among  the  happy  group,  and  to  which  the  pleasant 
remembrances  of  the  past,  the  grateful  and  gratified  feelings 
of  the  present,  and  the  congenial  tastes  of  the  parties,  all 
combined  to  impart  a  reciprocal  interest.  To  Amsden,  in- 


226  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

deed,  that  afternoon  was  one  of  those  halcyon  spots  of  moral 
sunshine  to  the  heart,  which,  in  this  world  of  care  and  cloud, 
occur  but  once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  our  lives,  when  the 
soul,  unconscious  of  a  single  ungratified  wish,  neither  turns 
to  the  past  nor  reaches  forward  to  the  future,  but  is  fully 
content  with  the  happiness  of  the  present.  And  when,  with 
a  feeling  of  surprise,  he  perceived  the  unwelcome  shadows 
of  evening  stealing  over  the  landscape,  and  warning  him 
that  the  time  at  which  he  had  proposed  to  return  had  arrived, 
he  wondered  how  the  winged  hours  could  have  flown  so 
quickly. 

Now,  reluctantly  rising  with  the  intention  of  bidding  his 
kind  entertainers  adieu,  he  proceeded  to  announce  to  them, 
with  an  effort  at  calmness  which  he  was  far  from  feeling,  his 
previously  formed  determination  of  leaving  town  the  next 
morning,  on  his  long-delayed  return  to  his  college  studies, 
upon  the  last  term  of  which  his  class  had,  many  weeks  be 
fore,  entered.  Colonel  Maverick,  though  silent  at  first, 
seemed  evidently  disappointed ;  and  the  countenance  of  his 
daughter  instantly  fell  at  the  unexpected  announcement. 

"  Is  such  indeed  your  purpose,  Mr.  Amsden  ?  "  asked  the 
colonel,  seriously. 

"  It  is,  sir,"  answered  the  other. 

"  But  why  this  haste  in  leaving  us  ?  "  resumed  the  former. 
"  Your  health,  which  needs  more  firmness,  will  be  gaining  in 
the  delay ;  and  a  few  days  can  certainly  make  no  essential 
difference  with  either  your  studies  or  your  interests  at 
college." 

"  If  those  few,"  replied  Amsden,  "  were  not  to  be  added  to 
the  many  already  lost,  it  might  vary  the  case.  As  it  is, 
however  pleasant  to  me  would  be  a  further  stay  in  town,  I 
think  I  can  tarry  no  longer." 

"  I  confess  I  can  hardly  reconcile  myself  to  this,"  observed 
the  colonel  thoughtfully.  "  I  had  counted  on  a  week's  inter- 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  227 

course  with  you,  at  least.  I  have  much  to  say  to  you  on 
subjects  connected  with  recent  events,  which,  though  it  may 
appear  strange,  I  feel  hardly  prepared  to  say  now.  But  you 
will  hear  from  me  again.  And,  if  you  must  go,"  he  con 
tinued,  advancing  and  offering  his  hand  in  a  kind,  feeling 
manner,  "  I  will  bid  you,  with  many  good  wishes  for  your 
welfare,  a  good-bye  for  the  present,  but  for  the  present  only. 
I  must  insist  on  your  visiting  us  again,  as  soon  as  your  term 
of  study  is  closed,  and  before  you  make  any  arrangement  for 
the  future." 

Reciprocating  the  kind  wishes  of  his  almost  revered  friend, 
and  bidding  him,  as  he  supposed,  an  adieu,  at  least  for 
months,  Amsden  left  the  room  for  another  parting,  in  which 
he  felt  far  less  prepared  to  act  his  part ;  for  Mary,  who  had 
not  uttered  a  word  during  the  foregoing  dialogue,  now  at 
tended  him,  in  silent  agitation,  to  the  door. 

"  Miss  Maverick  ! "  he  said,  with  an  effort,  as  he  paused 
at  the  threshold,  and  took  her  trembling,  but  frankly-offered 
hand. 

She  raised  her  eyes  inquiringly  to  his,  but  read  there  that 
which  caused  her  to  drop  them  again  instantly  to  the  floor. 

"  Miss  Maverick  !  "  he  repeated,  after  a  hesitating  pause, 
"  your  circumstances  in  life,  since  our  last  parting,  have  be 
come  much  changed." 

"  They  have,  Mr.  Amsden,"  she  replied,  "  and  I  feel  very 
grateful  for  the  unexpected  blessing — but,"  she  continued, 
with  a  half-blushful,  half-challenging  smile,  "  it  do  n't  follow 
that  I  should  be  changed  also." 

Another  pause  of  delicate  embarrassment  succeeded. 

"  Mary  ! "  once  more  began  Amsden  ;  but  as  he  glanced 
in  thought  at  his  own  situation  in  life,  and  her  altered  condi 
tion,  he  could  not  go  on. 

"  I  know  what  you  would  say,"  said  she,  looking  up  in 
sweet  confusion ;  "  but  come,  say  it  before  my  father,  my 


228  LOCKE    AMSDEN,    OR 

confidant,  my  adviser.  You  have  as  little  to  fear  from  him 
as  from  me  —  come,  come  !  "  And  she  drew  him,  hesitating 
and  irresolute,  back  towards  the  room  they  had  just  left ;  and 
the  next  moment  they  stood  before  Colonel  Maverick,  who, 
though  evidently  surprised,  yet  welcomed  their  return  with 
an  affectionate  smile. 

"  I  have  returned,  sir,"  said  Amsden,  diffidently,  but  with 
manly  firmness,  "  I  have  returned,  at  the  suggestion  of  your 
daughter,  to  say  before  you  what  I  was  about  to  say  to  her." 

"  I  am  much  gratified  at  your  course,  my  daughter,"  inter 
posed  the  colonel ;  "  but  proceed,"  he  continued,  turning 
encouragingly  to  the  embarrassed  lover ;  "  proceed,  Mr. 
Amsden." 

"  To  say,  sir,"  resumed  the  former,  "  that,  however  strong 
have  been  the  feelings  and  hopes  I  have  secretly  cherished 
towards  her,  I  will  not  presume,  in  the  new  and  high  posi 
tion  which  she  "  — 

"  Stop,  stop  !  Mr.  Amsden,"  interrupted  the  father  ;  "  you 
do  injustice  both  to  us  and  yourself.  We  both  feel,  indepen 
dent  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  we  hold  you,  we  both 
deeply  feel  how  much  we  have  recently  become  indebted  to 
you  for  those  exertions  which  cost  you  so  dear.  And  if  this," 
he  continued,  advancing,  and  with  much  emotion  placing  the 
readily-yielded  hand  of  his  daughter  into  that  of  her  almost 
overpowered  lover,  "  if  this  is  to  you  the  most  desirable 
boon,  then  be  it  your  reward.  The  gift,  for  me,  is  indeed  a 
great  one  ;  but  who,  by  noble  exertions,  can  ever  better  earn 
it,  and  who,  by  intrinsic  worth,  more  richly  deserves  it? 
And  now,  Heaven  bless  you,  my  children  ! ' 

A  few  more  words,  and  the  task  of  the  narrator  is  ended. 
With  a  heart  made  light  and  joyous  by  the  prospects  which 
had  so  unexpectedly  and  so  brightly  broken  on  the  path 
before  him,  Amsden  returned  to  college.  The  few  weeks 
now  remaining  to  bring  him  to  the  close  of  his  collegiate 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  229 

career  rolled  rapidly  away ;  when,  with  the  highest  honors 
of  the  institution,  and  the  distinguished  esteem  of  his  fel 
lows,  he  left  this  spot  of  hallowed  associations,  and  flew 
back,  as  if  on  the  fleet  wings  of  love,  to  the  scene  where  his 
affections  had  learned  to  cluster ;  and  where  the  wedded 
felicity,  that  now  speedily  succeeded  to  the  happy  and  deserv 
ing  pair,  who  became  its  mutually  blest  recipients,  was  only 
clouded  by  the  event  which  had  hastened  their  union,  —  that 
of  the  still  gradually  failing  health  of  the  accomplished  and 
high-minded  Colonel  Maverick,  whom  his  sorrowing  children 
were,  in  a  few  months,  called  on  to  bear  to  the  silent  tomb ; 
a  bereavement  for  which  they  felt  themselves  but  poorly 
compensated  by  the  ample  fortune  he  left  them,  not  only  to 
ensure  the  means  of  their  own  comfort  and  happiness,  as  far 
as  such  means  have  effect,  but  to  enable  them  to  become,  as 
they  soon  did,  the  dispensers  of  comfort  and  happiness  to 
others  individually,  and  of  general  usefulness  to  the  society 
at  large,  of  which,  ere  long,  they  were  the  acknowledged 
ornaments. 


Pass  with  us,  now,  gentle  reader,  over  a  short  period  of 
time,  and  we  will  bring  to  your  view  a  brief  picture  of  re 
sults,  which  involve  at  once  both  the  conclusion  and  moral 
of  our  tale,  or,  at  least,  so  much  of  the  latter  as  you  may  not 
have  gathered  by  the  way-side,  as,  not  unpleasantly,  we 
humbly  hope,  we  have  journeyed  on  together.  A  dozen 
years  have  not  elapsed  since  the  events  whose  attempted  de 
lineation  have  occupied  us  through  the  latter  portion  of  our 
unworthy  performance;  and  yet  Cartersville,  the  scene  of 
their  occurrence,  is  almost  entirely  a  different  place,  in  all 
that  should  give  character  to  a  village  community.  The  old 
school-house,  before  described  as  constructed  after  the  mise 
rable  fashion  of  the  times,  and  situated  on  a  busy  street, 
20 


230  LOCKE   AMSDEN,    OR 

amidst  a  clump  of  noisy  shops,  has  been  pulled  down ;  and,  to 
supply  its  place,  a  neat  little  edifice,  of  interior  construction, 
as  regards  space,  seats,  means  of  heating,  and  ventilation, 
calculated  alike  for  the  convenience,  comfort,  and  health  of 
the  pupil  and  teacher,  is  seen  standing  on  a  retired  slope, 
surrounded  by  shade-trees,  fancifully  grouped  over  a  spacious 
enclosure.  This  commodious  and  attractive  establishment 
was  built  and  given  to  the  district  by  the  wealthy  and  liberal 
Mr.  Locke  Amsden,  now  a  member  of  Congress  for  that  part 
of  the  country.  That  gentleman  and  his  amiable  lady  hav 
ing,  in  conjunction  with  their  friend  Dr.  Lincoln,  early  been 
the  means  of  introducing  adequate  teachers  at  an  adequate 
compensation,  have  made  it  their  rule  to  visit  the  school  as 
often,  at  least,  as  once  every  month,  through  the  whole  of  its 
continuance.  Captain  Bunker  —  who,  as  we  must  pause  to 
inform  the  reader,  has  been  induced  to  give  up  his  farm  in 
the  "  Horn-of-the-Moon  "  to  his  two  eldest  boys,  and,  with  his 
surplus  capital,  purchase,  and  settle  down  on  a  small  farm, 
adjoining  that  of  his  friend  Amsden ;  through  whose  influ 
ence,  with  the  aiding  effect  of  a  scurrilous  attack  upon  him, 
that,  on  his  being  announced  as  a  candidate,  appeared  in 
"  The  Blazing  Star,"  which,  with  this  effort  to  extend  its 
political  supervision  over  the  affairs  of  Cartersville,  soon 
expired,  he  has  been  advanced  to  a  seat  in  the  State  Legis 
lature,  where  he  has  become  the  champion  of  the  farming 
interests  —  Captain  Bunker,  we  say,  has  also  lent  efficient 
aid  to  the  common  school,  having  become  a  convert  to  the 
principle  of  high  wages  for  teachers,  since,  as  he  says,  he  is 
now  satisfied  that  nobody  who  is  a  sufficiently  "good  thinker" 
to  be  a  good  teacher,  can  be  got  at  the  old  rate  of  wages. 
Incited  to  emulation  by  the  example  of  the  now  most  wealthy 
and  influential  family  in  town,  the  people  of  most  of  the  neigh 
boring  districts  in  the  village  and  country  around  it  have  built 
new  school-houses,  and  supplied  them  with  good  teachers; 


THE    SCHOOLMASTER.  231 

while  school  visiting  has  become  as  fashionable  as  it  was  for 
merly  the  reverse ;  and  whenever  a  select  party  is  got  up,  the 
master  is  now  not  the  last  to  be  invited.  An  entire  revolu 
tion,  indeed,  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  the  public  mind  on 
these  subjects.  Ornamental  education  is  now  here  never 
thought  of,  till  the  solid  and  useful  sciences  are  first  secured. 
The  demand  for  piano  fortes,  water-color  paint-boxes,  draw 
ing-paper,  &c.,  is  at  a  low  ebb,  while  that  of  the  standard 
works  of  science  and  literature  is  daily  increasing.  Profes 
sors  of  Elegant  Literature  now  find  poor  picking  in  Carters- 
ville  ;  and  the  race  of  fashionable  fine  ladies,  who  were  once 
their  patrons,  are  lamentably  in  the  back-ground.  Fops, 
formerly  the  leaders  of  society,  are  as  scarce  as  owls  in  the 
sunlight,  the  two  last  that  remained  of  the  tribe  having  gone 
off  some  years  before  with  the  two  younger  Misses  Carter ; 
who,  finding  themselves  no  longer  appreciated,  concluded  to 
emigrate,  with  the  best  offers  they  could  obtain,  to  some  more 
congenial  residence.  Nor  are  the  more  general  results  flow 
ing  from  these  circumstances  less  observable.  The  village, 
instead  of  a  trifling,  has  become  a  reading  and  a  thinking 
community;  doing  every  thing  for  the  encouragement  of 
popular  education  at  home,  and  now  yearly  sending  off,  to 
the  academies  and  colleges  abroad,  some  half-dozen  scholars, 
where  one,  and  oftener  none,  were  sent  before.  The  propor 
tion  of  vice  and  crime  has  already  very  sensibly  decreased ; 
while  that  of  industry,  general  competence,  and  rational  hap 
piness,  has  still  more  sensibly  increased.  In  short,  the  whole 
tone  of  society  has  changed ;  and  that  change,  kind  reader, 
great  and  beneficial  as  it  is,  has  been  effected  by  the  nobly 
begun,  and,  subsequently,  the  no  less  nobly  sustained  efforts 
of  THE  COMMON  SCHOOLMASTER. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


l2Oef.'60PM  AU, 

H  Eu  E  I  v  E  u 

•  - 

. 

JAN  f'3  199^ 

IN  STACKS      C 

RCULATiON  DEPT. 

DEC  12  I960 

vt&ms  ct> 

OCT12198B      » 

i.  j-i/C 

IN  51*°** 

.    1fl£C\ 

S£P  W  ^bto 

RECEIVE 

:D 

OCT7    ^^ 

;   PM 

LOAN  DE 

^T. 

LD  21A-50m-4,'60 
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